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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.
The 17-year-old boy who was charged as an adult with second-degree murder in the 2017 stabbing death of a Marine in Waikiki was arraigned this morning in Honolulu District Court.
Nicholas Earl Torres, who was 16 at the time of the Oct. 21, 2017, stabbing, allegedly gave a knife to a 15-year-old boy and urged him to stab the victim, 23-year-old Sgt. William M. Brown, according to a court document filed today showing probable cause to arrest Torres.
The court document reveals details not publicly released previously because Torres was being held as a juvenile.
“Stab this f—-r, … . Stab this f—-r,” Torres yelled, according to that document.
When the younger boy failed to do so, Torres allegedly grabbed the knife from him, walked up to Brown and stabbed him once near his left armpit, the court document stated.
Brown was taken in critical condition to The Queen’s Medical Center, where he later died of a stab wound to his chest.
Torres’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 9.
Torres was originally arrested 3:35 a.m. Oct. 21, 2017, and had been served with a Family Court petition for second-degree murder on Oct. 23, 2017.
Police arrested him Tuesday on suspicion of second-degree murder after Family Court Judge Paul Murakami had the juvenile case waived.
His bail, set at $500,000, was confirmed today. His attorney, Michael Green, had asked the court to have him held at a juvenile facility rather than at Oahu Community Correctional Facility, but said he did not know where he was being held. A Department of Public Safety official said he was not in its custody.
Torres was one of three teenagers identified by witnesses as fighting with Brown during a large brawl at about 1 a.m. at the corner of Kalakaua and Royal Hawaiian avenues, police said in the court document. The other two were 13 and 15 at the time. A verbal exchange between two groups escalated into the confrontation, police had previously said.
Two officers sent to respond to the fight spotted three teens breathing heavily and sweating profusely while running on Dukes Lane towards Kuhio Avenue.
One officer noted Torres was struggling to put on a hoodie, while the 15-year-old had fresh blood stains on his knuckles. The 13-year-old was with them.
S.S. told police that he had asked Torres if he could hold the knife, and Torres gave him the knife and sheath.
S.S. then tucked it into his waistband.
However, police detained several other associates of Torres who identified him as the one who had the knife. A knife was recovered from a storm drain and Torres was caught by a surveillance camera bending down near a storm drain on Seaside and Kalakaua avenues.
Brown, a Tennessee native served as an 81 mm mortarman in Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, on Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
The Facebook page of his mother, Betty Reese-Luster, contained the following post on Oct. 2: “Today is one day that I have waited on for almost a year. Finally, my son’s killer will go to trial for his death.”
Her Facebook page identifies her as a former police officer with the West Memphis Police Department and a former sheriff’s deputy.
She did not respond to requests from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for an interview.
Judic Determ of Probable Caus: State v. Nicolas E Torres by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
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