COURTESY HAWAII DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Oscar K. Cardona
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An Oahu Circuit Court jury, after a day of deliberating, found a 23-year-old Waikiki man guilty of second-degree murder in the June 1, 2021, stabbing death of a 19-year-old California visitor in Waikiki.
The jury rejected Oscar Cardona Jr.’s claim of self-defense. He testified he held out the knife, but did not stab Elian Delacerda, who received five stab wounds. Instead he said Delacerda was attacking him and may have stabbed himself as he demonstrated he held out the knife about waist high.
Deputy Public Defender Christian Enright blamed a visiting nurse for causing Delacerda’s death by administering CPR on him while he was still breathing.
But the Medical Examiner testified the cause of death was a stab wound to the heart.
Judge Kevin Morikone set Cardona’s sentencing for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 13.
Cardona will face a sentence of life with the possibility of parole.