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Woman indicted in 2018 murder after one of 2 men cuts plea deal

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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Nicholas Payne, left, and Chu Lun Aiona were indicted in September with second-degree murder.

An Oahu grand jury indicted Wednesday a third suspect — a 23-year-old woman — for second-degree murder in the 2018 beating death of a 49-year-old man found unconscious at a Kapiolani Boulevard bus stop.

Police arrested Catherine Laumea Wednesday at the Women’s Community Correctional Center, where she was in custody for unrelated crimes. Bail was set at $1 million.

Laumea was at the scene of the crime and intentionally or knowingly caused Joey Nguyen’s death by inflicting injury on him and/or failing to get help from law enforcement and/or medical personnel, the indictment says.

The indictment comes a month after the April 9 plea deal by Chu Lun Aiona, who pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors and agreed to testify against his fellow defendant.

Nicholas Payne, 36, and Aiona, 39, were indicted in September with second-degree murder.

A witness told police the men punched and kicked the Nguyen repeatedly in the face and body for 35-40 minutes in an abandoned building at 1687 Kapiolani Blvd.

The witness also said Aiona accused Nguyen of sexual assault.

Other witnesses told police they found Nguyen barely alive, and Payne was covered in blood.

They got Payne to help carry Nguyen to the bus stop outside the building and tried to flag down police.

Nguyen was unconscious and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He died of blunt force head injury.

Aiona’s sentencing is set for Aug. 6. Payne’s trial is set for June 17.

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