Narin Kheng, of Cranston, is arraigned on a murder charge in Superior Court, Providence, and held without bail.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

PROVIDENCE — Narin Kheng, accused of killing a man after nightclubbing downtown, was arraigned on a charge of murder and two other counts in Superior Court on Wednesday.

Kheng, 28, of 57 Lincoln Ave., Cranston, allegedly stabbed to death Jeremy M. Olearnick, a 22-year-old cook from Norwich, Conn., in a confrontation under a Route 195 overpass at Friendship and Chestnut streets, in an area where bars and clubs are clustered, on Dec. 6, 2008.

Kheng also is charged with conspiracy and possession of a concealed knife with a blade longer than 3 inches. He has been held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions since his arrest Dec. 8.

At the arraignment, Kheng pleaded not guilty, and Judge William E. Carnes Jr. ordered that he continue to be held without bail.

Beryl Kenyon, spokeswoman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, declined to comment on the facts of the case.

A codefendant, Antonio Di-Sano, 19, of 18 Grant Ave., Cranston, originally was charged with felony assault and freed on bail. He was arrested again on June 1 and arraigned on charges of murder and conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty and he, too, is now being held without bail at the ACI.

According to the police, Kheng and DiSano left Level II, a dance club at Friendship and Chestnut streets, and walked nearly one block south on Friendship. Olearnick had been with friends at Club Hell, on Richmond Street near Friendship, and he and his group also walked south on Friendship to get to their parked cars when the fatal confrontation occurred.

The Olearnick slaying, the police say, is an example of troubling violence associated with the nightlife citywide. Five of the 13 homicides in 2008, as well as numerous nonfatal shootings and stabbings, were associated directly or indirectly with nightclubbing, according to Maj. Thomas F. Oates III, commander of the Investigative Division.

After the Olearnick stabbing, Mayor David N. Cicilline called on the city Board of Licenses to revoke the liquor license of Level II, and the club was closed for a few days on an emergency basis but then reopened. After the police lodged fresh charges against Level II regarding a melee and other incidents — but not the Olearnick stabbing — the board suspended Level II’s license for 30 days last spring.

The board currently is holding a protracted multipart hearing of a host of additional charges by the police, who again are seeking the revocation of Level II’s license.

A man was shot, over the weekend, very near the location of the stabbing of Olearnick. Early Saturday, Marcus A. Smith, 26, who according to the police had been a customer of Elements, a dance club at Friendship and Richmond streets, became embroiled in a fight with another man, was shot in the midriff at Friendship and Chestnut, and was hospitalized.

Elements is on the ground floor of the building occupied by Level II.

gsmith@projo.com