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Teen suspect in 2017 fatal stabbing of Marine could be tried as an adult

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COURTESY JOSHUA LEWIS

Sgt. William Brown, 23, was stabbed multiple times at the corner of Royal Hawaiian and Kalakaua avenues last year.

A 17-year-old boy, charged as a juvenile in 2017 for the Oct. 21 fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old Kaneohe-based Marine in Waikiki, could be tried as an adult.

A Family Court hearing in Kapolei on Tuesday resulted in the teen’s rights as a juvenile being waived.

Police arrested the teen today at noon on suspicion of second-degree murder, and was taken into police custody but has not yet been charged as an adult.

The victim, Sgt. William Brown, 23, and his friends were confronted at about 1 a.m. Oct. 21 by a group of individuals.

A verbal exchange between the two groups occurred and escalated, police said. Brown was stabbed multiple times at the corner of Royal Hawaiian and Kalakaua avenues.

He was taken to the hospital where he later died of a stab wound to the chest.

Police arrested three people for the Oct. 21, 2017, murder — a 21-year-old man and two teens, a girl, 14, and a boy, 16.

The suspect, then 16, was charged as a juvenile in connection with the stabbing death, police said.

Brown, a Tennessee native, served as an 81 mm mortarman, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force based on Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

He had been a beloved member of the unit, and had been in the unit for five years, his battalion commander had said.

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