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Prosecutors drop 1 of 2 murder charges against former Big Island boxer

HILO >> A former boxer is no longer facing a murder charge in the death of his girlfriend, but is still scheduled for a May trial in the death of the woman’s 18-month-old daughter.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the charge against Xavier Cortez Jr. in the 2011 strangling death of 20-year-old Sommer Ferreira due to a lack of cooperating witnesses.

Ferreira’s death occurred almost nine months after her daughter died at a Honolulu hospital. A prosecutor said Cortez killed Ferreira to stop her from testifying against him in her daughter’s death.

A Hilo judge dismissed the charge and allowed prosecutors to refile later.

Court-appointed attorney Stanton Oshiro had asked the charge be dismissed without the possibility of refiling, saying the state’s case was inherently weak.

4 responses to “Prosecutors drop 1 of 2 murder charges against former Big Island boxer”

  1. allie says:

    Big Island is an increasingly scary place.

  2. 2liveque says:

    Troubling on all fronts. Especially from the prosecutors side.

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