Morgan Freeman's Granddaughter -- Alleged Murderer Pleads Not Guilty ... Despite Brutal Evidence

The man accused of stabbing Morgan Freeman's granddaughter pled not guilty to her murder ... as prosecutors painted a graphic picture of the scene witnesses and police saw the day she was killed.

Lamar Davenport appeared in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday morning with his attorneys to enter his plea. He's been on psychiatric hold since E'Dena Hines' death on August 16.

Prosecutors say witnesses saw Davenport on top of Hines in the middle of the street that day, and the knife was still in her chest when police arrived. The D.A. said she had 25 stab wounds -- initial reports said it was 15 -- and she was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Davenport's attorneys said he was about to begin psychiatric examinations at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYC.