Trial for one of two teenagers accused of fatally beating a taxicab driver on the driver’s 41st birthday last year got under way Monday in state court.

Michael Robles, 19, is facing second-degree murder charges in the May 1, 2010, beating death of Charlys Tang.

Kilani Derego, 18, is scheduled to stand trial in July.

Both were AWOL from a Hale Kipa group home in Manoa at the time.

Bystanders found Tang lying in a pool of blood in the parking lot of Times Super Market in Waipahu.

Police said Robles told them he and Derego had beaten Tang. He said they got into Tang’s taxicab in Waikiki, then got into an argument with him before getting out of the vehicle in Waipahu. Police said the two teenagers beat Tang after the driver demanded payment for the ride.

The first officer on the scene said Tang’s car was still running and that the meter read $66.32.

Derego was 17 at the time. A Family Court judge waived jurisdiction, allowing the state to charge him as an adult.