The 32-year-old man who fatally struck a Fort Street Mall security guard with a metal water bottle on May 3, 2022, will avoid a life sentence after accepting a plea deal.
Razi White, who was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Michael Stubbs, 58, pleaded guilty to the lesser crime of manslaughter. A trial date that had been scheduled for Jan. 29 was canceled due to his change of plea on Nov. 29.
When White is sentenced March 12, he will face a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment and a $50,000 fine. Had he been tried and found guilty of second-degree murder, White could have been sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
As part of the plea agreement, the state cannot ask for extended sentencing.
The attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. May 3 near Pioneer Plaza.
During a preliminary hearing, a downtown attorney testified in Honolulu District Court that he saw White take a full swing to the side of the security guard’s head and face with a purple metal water bottle.
“He reached back and swung it … and the security guard went down,” Greg Takase said.
Nelson Goo, White’s court-appointed attorney, said during the preliminary hearing that Stubbs made a remark to White that angered him.
He alleged Stubbs asked White, “Are you a girl or are you a boy?”
Stubbs, who worked for Allied Universal, was security post commander at Pioneer Plaza.
According to court documents, Stubbs had called his partner, saying he was dealing with an uncooperative man, and told her to call police. But a minute later Stubbs called her back to cancel the 911 call because the man was leaving. Instead, White struck Stubbs, who collapsed and hit his face on the brick walkway.
Stubbs was hospitalized in critical condition and died May 12, nine days later, at The Queen’s Medical Center.
A forensic pathologist with the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office testified that Stubbs died of blunt-force head trauma, including a skull fracture and bleeding in his brain.
Another witness, who was a greeter at Walmart on Fort Street Mall, testified he saw White, a known shoplifter, run past him around the time of the attack.
Initially, police arrested the wrong man after a witness misidentified a 32-year-old man. White was arrested May 13, 2022, and has been in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail.
