A father has pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges in the deaths of his four young children, who were thrown from a coastal Alabama bridge in January.

Lam Luong, 37, entered the plea Tuesday at his arraignment on charges in the Jan. 7 murders of his four children, who ranged in age from 4 months to 3 years.

Prosecutors have said Luong broke down and confessed to driving the children to the two-lane bridge and throwing them into the waters after a fight with his wife.

Luong later recanted, claiming two Asian women took the children and never returned them.

If convicted, Luong, a shrimp boat worker and native of Vietnam, could be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.

A trial date was not immediately set.