A 52-year-old man was found guilty of attempted murder and four felony firearm offenses Monday in connection with the July 29, 2019, shooting of a Honolulu police officer at a home near Pokai Bay.
A jury found Tony D.V. Souza, 52, guilty of shooting an officer who had gone to a home near Pokai Bay in Waianae to follow up a lead in a credit card fraud case.
The officer, at the time a six-year veteran of the Honolulu Police Department, survived gunshot wounds to his hand and chest from a single bullet.
Another officer ended the encounter by shooting Souza in the hand and leg with a single gunshot.
The injured officer and Souza went to the hospital by ambulance; the officer was in critical condition, and Souza was in serious condition.
A bullet remains in the
officer’s body to this day, according to prosecutors.
“Taking Mr. Souza off
the street makes us all safer,” said Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm in a statement. “Souza has now been found guilty twice for attempted murder, showing a callous disregard for life. We thank our officers for the courageous work they do every day and Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell for successfully prosecuting this case.”
Souza is scheduled to
be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 16 before Judge Trish Morikawa.
Second-degree attempted murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, according to prosecutors, but if sentenced to an extended term, Souza would face a “mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and two firearm offenses would warrant a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.”
At the time, Souza was arrested for the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, but two days after his arrest he was transferred to the then-state Department of Public Safety, which had a no-bail, parole retake warrant for his arrest.
A state jury found Souza guilty of attempted murder in April 1990 after Souza stabbed a friend in the
neck without warning
after smoking crystal
methamphetamine.
A state judge sentenced Souza in June 1990 to life in prison with possible release on parole. The Hawaii Paroling Authority granted Souza parole in November 1998, December 2002 and September 2013.
Souza violated the terms of his parole each time it was granted, and was arrested and incarcerated for failing to comply with recommended programming.
He was released on parole in October 2016, a little less than three years before he shot the police officer in Waianae.
After his 1998 release Souza pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in jail for misdemeanor domestic abuse, according to state court records. Following his 2002 release he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor resisting arrest and received a suspended six-month jail term.
In total, Souza has seven state charges on his record, including car theft and resisting arrest.