A 16-year-old Farrington High School football player was killed Tuesday night after he and his older brother were stabbed during an argument near their public housing complex in Kalihi.
Wesley Ulugalu-Sula, who was in his junior year and a defensive player on the Governors’ varsity football team, was also known among his numerous cousins for his sense of humor, cousin Shyla Sula said Wednesday.
“He was great football player,” she said. “That’s all he wanted to do … football.”
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday identified Ulugalu-Sula and said autopsy results were pending.
Police arrested a 27-year-old Kalihi Valley man at the Queen’s Medical Center at about 12:20 a.m. Wednesday in connection with the stabbing of Ulugalu-Sula and his older brother, Chippa. The suspect, who also sustained injuries, was booked for investigation of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder.
The Ulugalu-Sula brothers were stabbed at about 9:45 p.m. at the Kuhio Park Terrace Low Rise on Ahonui Street, according to an Emergency Medical Services report.
Police said there was a confrontation before the stabbing, and that Wesley Ulugalu-Sula was taken to a hospital where he died. His 18-year-old brother, also a Farrington High student, went to the hospital in serious condition.
Sula said Chippa Ulugalu-Sula underwent surgery for a stab wound located a few inches from a major artery in his lower abdomen and nearly died from blood loss.
Sula said family members told her that the argument erupted near the mailboxes on Ahonui Street after the suspect approached the brothers to inquire about drugs, which led to the argument.
“I’m really still in shock,” Sula said, adding that other family members are also stunned. “He (Wesley Ulugalu-Sula) was the clown of the family,” she said. “He always made us laugh.”
In addition, she said Ulugalu-Sula, the second-youngest of four siblings, liked children and enjoyed playing with the younger kids in the extended family.
On the school football team, he played safety, linebacker and other defensive positions. “He never liked the offense, always wanted to tackle,” she said.
The suspect was also arrested for allegedly violating probation. Bail on that charge was set at $20,000.
The suspect has three felony convictions, starting from 2008, according to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center. The felony convictions were for breaking into a car, abuse and second-degree robbery.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Gregg K. Kakesako contributed to this report.
