The 10 separate homicides in Honolulu so far this year are worrying law enforcement officials and troubling communities coping with the deadly violence.
The two most recent killings Opens in a new tab allegedly were carried out by 19-year-old suspects who somehow obtained guns two years before they were legally able to do so. How they got the firearms used in the unrelated shootings remains part of ongoing police investigations.
Interim Honolulu Police Chief Rade Vanic told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that 10 homicides since the start of the year, compared with six at the same time in 2021, are a “source of concern.” He said it “certainly seems” that people have started using guns to solve disputes more so than they did 20-plus years ago when he and his colleagues joined the Honolulu Police Department.
“We ask the public to avoid confrontations whenever possible. Don’t start something or escalate the situation, especially if there is the possibility of violence. Call 911 immediately,” Vanic said. “If you own a gun, make sure that it is safely stored and secured. This will reduce the chance of a legally owned firearm falling into the wrong hands.”
Of the 10 homicides in 2022, five involved people in relationships, and four involved people suspected to be engaged in criminal activity, he said. The remaining case saw a schizophrenic man allegedly beat a woman to death with a tree trunk Feb. 15 after both were released from custody at the Kapolei Police Station.
“Arrests have been made in eight of the cases. In one case the suspect took his own life,” Vanic said, referring to a Feb. 28 murder-suicide in which a 38-year- old man shot his 3-year-old son at their home in Waialua before turning the gun on himself.
Vanic said police are still asking for the public’s assistance in locating witnesses and identifying the suspect in the Feb. 13 fatal shooting of a 27-year-old man during an argument on Honowai Street fronting Honowai Neighborhood Park in Waipahu.
Guns were used in eight of Oahu’s 19 killings in 2020; in 2019, firearms were used in 10 of 24 homicides, according to HPD’s annual report. Of the 24 killings in 2018, eight were done with a gun, and three of the 32 killings in 2017 were committed with a firearm. Eight of the 16 killings in 2016 counted a gun as the weapon.
On Wednesday the 19-year-old man charged with second-degree murder in the March 19 shooting death of 20-year-old Marqus I. McNeil in Waikiki made his initial appearance via videoconference from a cellblock at Honolulu District Court.
Justice M. Kaio also is charged with carrying a firearm in the commission of a separate felony and with another firearm offense. His bail is set at $1 million, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Friday.
Police said Kaio was arguing with McNeil on a sidewalk near Kalakaua Avenue and Lewers Street when Kaio pulled out a gun and shot McNeil.
A witness told HPD homicide detectives that Kaio shot McNeil twice and ran away on Lewers Street, according to court documents. Another witness reported seeing Kaio throw something over a wooden construction barrier on Lewers as he ran. Police later found a handgun in the area.
Kaio and McNeil knew each other from high school, and long-standing grudges may have played a role in the killing, according to police.
On March 18, 19-year-old Nainoa M.K. Damon allegedly shot and killed 18-year-old Ha’aheo Kolona, a Saint Louis School senior, during a failed robbery at a scenic lookout on Round Top Drive in Tantalus. Damon, the son of a Honolulu police officer who helped persuade him to give himself up Opens in a new tab, allegedly shot Kolona after Kolona pulled a gun on him.
Kolona reportedly was trying to protect his friend, a longtime rival of Damon’s, after Damon put a gun to Kolona’s friend’s head and demanded his jewelry, according to police. Damon allegedly shot Kolona in the abdomen before fleeing the scene with another man in a 1998 Toyota Camry.
Damon is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of carrying a firearm in commission of separate felony, a firearm offense, first-degree terroristic threatening and first-degree robbery with a dangerous instrument and threatened force.
His bail is also set at $1 million.
If Damon and Kaio are convicted of second-degree murder, they face life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Jason Chudy, public information officer for the Seattle Field Division of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which oversees Hawaii, said the agency is focused on its partnerships with local law enforcement to target the most violent criminals who “illegally possess and misuse” firearms.
“We are always concerned about gun violence. ATF’s principal mission is to protect our communities from violent criminals who engage in violent acts and illegally possess and misuse firearms, and we work closely with HPD and other law enforcement agencies on the islands to combat this,” Chudy said.
“When ATF receives information that a privately made firearm is criminally possessed, or otherwise used in a crime, ATF investigates using all available resources. State and local law enforcement also may investigate crimes involving privately made firearms, and are encouraged to advise ATF when they encounter these types of firearms in their investigations.”
