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Chad Duran apologized in state court Tuesday morning to the family of a friend he killed in what his lawyer says was an inadvertent shooting.
"I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart because I never meant for any of that to happen," Duran said.
Following Duran’s apology, Circuit Judge Randal Lee sentenced him to 20 years in prison for manslaughter.
Duran, 23, had been charged with murder in the Sept. 12 shooting death of Christopher Medeiros. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March in a deal with the prosecutor.
Duran’s lawyer, Richard Hoke, said Duran went to Medeiros’ Lahaina Street apartment in Makaha to apologize for rummaging through the belongings of Medeiros and Medeiros’ roommates. Hoke said Medeiros accepted Duran’s apology and gave him a hug. But another person in the apartment wasn’t happy and argued with Duran.
During the argument, Hoke said, Duran took out a handgun he brought with him. He said Duran and the other person struggled for the handgun, and when Medeiros approached the pair to break them up, the gun went off and the bullet hit Medeiros in the face.
Lee said grand jury testimony supported Hoke’s version of events and called the manslaughter conviction and sentence a fair resolution.
