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Honolulu police arrested a 25-year-old Ewa Beach man on suspicion of murder Monday after the body of a woman was found in a burned-out car in a parking lot at Mililani High School.
Samuel M.D. Jones of Ewa Beach, according to police booking records and state court documents, was arrested at 7:16 a.m. on Makaimoimo Street in Mililani.
Jones has nine prior arrests and citations for traffic offenses, trespassing and domestic abuse, according to state court records.
At about 6:40 a.m. witnesses reported seeing a car fire and called 911, according to police.
Officers responding to the call were told witnesses saw a man “opening and closing doors during the fire” before running away, according to police. The witnesses reportedly followed him until police arrived.
Police were told he was carrying a “bladed-type weapon.” Officers detained the man and arrested him on suspicion of second-degree murder.
The Honolulu Fire Department said it responded at about 6:50 a.m. to a 911 call about a vehicle fire in the parking lot next to the high school’s baseball field. One unit with four personnel responded, and upon arriving on-scene at 6:55 a.m., firefighters found the blaze to have been self-extinguished and discovered the body inside.
After the fire was reported, Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the scene on Meheula Parkway. The woman was declared dead at the scene.
The female victim’s identity is not yet being released by the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner. Officials are looking into whether she was a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard.
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Staff writers Esme M. Infante and Nina Wu contributed to this report.