A 28-year-old man who was shot in the head in an illegal game room in Kalihi last month has died.
Honolulu police say the man was pronounced dead Sunday. They had previously identified him in court records as Pitulo Vaipapa.
Prescott S. Kesi, 34, is in custody for the shooting. His bail is $500,000.
Honolulu District Judge James Kawashima on Oct. 8 found probable cause to have Kesi stand trial for attempted murder after listening to evidence presented in a preliminary hearing. One of the witnesses who testified in the hearing is a woman who was seeing both Viapapa and Kesi.
Prosecutors are likely to seek an indictment charging Kesi with murder.
Police say Kesi entered the game room on Kalani Street armed with a handgun on Sept. 30, walked up to Vaipapa, yelled at him and hit him on the head with the handgun. As the two were wrestling, the gun went off twice hitting Vaipapa. Kesi fled after a bouncer took the gun away from him, police said.
A city ambulance transported Vaipapa to The Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition.
Police said Kesi turned himself in at the Pearl City police station about an hour after the shooting and told them he had shot someone.
Group of men beat, rob victim in Kalihi
A group of seven to eight men in their 20s — armed with unspecified “dangerous weapons” — beat a 38-year-old man and robbed him in Kalihi on Saturday, police said.
The men took the victim’s property then fled on foot about 10:30 p.m., police said. The victim suffered “substantial bodily injuries” and paramedics took him to an area hospital.
Squatters reportedly lived at home that burned
No injuries were reported after an early morning structure fire in Nuuanu on Sunday.
The Honolulu Fire Department responded at 2:59 a.m. to 32 Kauila Street, where the first of 11 units to arrive discovered a single-story residence with flames extending from underneath the house up an exterior wall to the attic.
More than 40 HFD personnel assisted in fire suppression, bringing the blaze under control at 3:34 a.m. and fully extinguishing it at 5 a.m.
While HFD continues to investigate the cause of the fire, they said a group of squatters was living under the home, which was unoccupied. The home’s owner reportedly lives on the mainland.
A damage estimate wasn’t immediately available.
