HPD retiree pleads no contest in death

A retired Honolulu police major pleaded no contest to second-degree negligent homicide in state court Tuesday morning for causing the death of a jogger in Mililani last year.

Charles T. Duncan, 73, faces a maximum five-year prison term at sentencing in September.

Police say Duncan was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that made a left turn off Meheula Parkway at Kuahelani Avenue and struck 49-year-old Shari Afuso on Feb. 5, 2015. An ambulance took Afuso to the Queen’s Medical Center, where she died the following day. Police say Afuso was in a marked crosswalk.

Duncan was scheduled to stand trial for negligent homicide next month. He retired from the Honolulu Police Department in 1996 after more than 30 years of service.

Afuso was the courtroom manager for U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin S.C. Chang. Family members said Afuso jogged regularly and was struck a couple of blocks away from her home.

Duncan is a Mililani resident.