Victim of stabbing remembered fondly

A 55-year-old Waikiki valet known for his friendliness and consideration for others may have been trying to defuse a confrontation when he was fatally stabbed last week at Kapiolani Park.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man Sunday as Theodore Abraham Jr. of Kapolei. The office said his cause of death was pending.

Prosecutors charged 61-year-old Karl Forester on Friday with second-degree murder in connection with Abraham’s death. His bail was set at $250,000. Police said Sunday night he was not in custody at the main cellblock.

Forester, who has no local address, was arrested Thursday a few minutes after the stabbing.

Police said officers found Abraham unconscious at about 11:45 a.m. Thursday after they responded to an argument on Paki Avenue near the tennis courts. Abraham was taken to a hospital, where he died. Forester was arrested after returning to the scene, police said.

A man who declined to give his name out of fear for his safety said Sunday that he witnessed the stabbing. He said Forester seemed unstable, yelling at him and asking whether he was talking to him.

The man said he ignored Forester, who, a few minutes later, began yelling at a woman. Abraham tried to intervene, and the man appeared to punch Abraham, the man said. He said he saw Forester fold a knife and put it in his pocket and that then Abraham lifted up his shirt and said he had been stabbed.

He said Abraham turned around and collapsed. Police arrived soon after and began CPR.

Friends at the park said Abraham was seen at the park regularly.

One woman, who gave only her first name, Michelle, said Abraham told her he bought a house in Kapolei where his family was living and that he was paying the mortgage.

“He was very positive,” Michelle said, adding that Abraham would suddenly break into song to defuse a situation if people were arguing.

“He was like a peacemaker,” she said. “He cared about everybody else more than himself.”

Lynette Salazar, a manager at the Imperial Hawaii Resort at Waikiki, where Abraham was a valet for 12 years, said employees were receiving an outpouring of condolences from customers stunned and saddened by Abraham’s death.

“He was everybody’s teddy bear,” she said. “He had such a big heart, if you ask him for a dollar, he would give you 10.”

She said Abraham took care of her, guarding her when she had to deal with intoxicated or unruly people.

He called her regularly before he went in to work to ask what she and his co-workers wanted for lunch, and stopped by on his days off to bring them food.

“He was just a bighearted, lovable guy. … He was always happy,” she said. “He was also my friend, my brother. I loved him to death.”

Abraham’s cousin Darshalle Diamond of California recalled by phone that he would protect her even when they were children. She recalled Abraham walking in front of her at Sacred Falls before the attraction was closed to make sure no one would cause her trouble. Walking along the roadway to the site, Abraham made her walk on the side away from the traffic.

“He was always protective,” she said.