Prosecutors said in court Friday that a teenager had hopped a fence to retrieve a jacket when he was fatally shot by a Kalihi man.
After the second day of a preliminary hearing in District Court for Richard Obrero, 50, he was ordered to appear in state Circuit Court on Nov. 29 on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, three counts of attempted
second-degree murder and carrying a firearm in commission of a felony. His bail was confirmed at $1 million.
Obrero is accused of killing 16-year-old Starsky Willy on Nov. 7 on Kula Kolea Drive near Kalihi Valley Homes. The public housing complex abuts Obrero’s Kula Kolea Drive property.
Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Tanaka said testimony was consistent with Obrero shooting Willy, and then at a group of teenage males who were on Kalihi Valley Homes — also known as Kam IV — public housing complex property.
Tanaka said Obrero said he “caught that f—— one good one” and referenced it to shooting an unarmed Willy, who she said had hopped his fence to retrieve a jacket.
“No threats were made (by the teenagers). There was swearing but it was just yelling. They were upset, crying and just asking him the same question: Why did you shoot Willy?” Tanaka said. “At that point … Mr. Obrero aimed and fired at least one shot at the boys who were out in the open, still on the Kam IV housing side,” Tanaka said.
Joseph Correa, the Honolulu police officer
who responded to the 11 p.m. call, said he had been made aware upon arriving at Obrero’s property that shots had been fired from the Kam IV property.
Correa said he made contact with Obrero, who was wearing a bulletproof vest but no shirt underneath, and heard BBs and glass bottles hitting Obrero’s property.
He approached the fence separating the two properties, and the males on the Kam IV side who had been hiding behind cars indicated that Obrero had just shot Willy. About 20 other males had arrived and started throwing things at Obrero’s property.
Correa returned to Obrero and retrieved a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol that Obrero pulled from his pocket.
Correa said that Obrero said, “I needed to protect myself.”
Detective Jason Malacas obtained a statement from Obrero’s neighbor, who said Obrero said he knew the juveniles were drinking and was waiting outside for them to come back.
Public defender Doris Lum, who is representing Obrero, said that he was acting in self-defense after he was being shot at with
a BB gun by one of the teenagers.
“Mr. Obrero had a right to defend himself and his property and his loved ones,” Lum said.
At around 9 p.m. Obero reported a burglary at his property, which shares a fence with Kam IV, that involved four juvenile males who fled back to Kam IV property, court records show. Obrero’s wife later called police at around
11 p.m. saying that the four juveniles had returned and that Obrero had shot one of them.
Lum said that Obrero was defending himself against 18-year-old Penitila “Junior” Faamoe, who said Thursday that he had fired his BB gun in Obrero’s direction in response to Obrero’s initial firing. Faamoe said he was close friends with Willy.