The 23-year-old former Schofield Barracks soldier
indicted in the March 19 beating death of Alvin Matsumoto, his 64-year-old landlord, was discharged for undisclosed reasons from the Army three weeks before the vicious killing.
Kendall Gray was administratively separated from the Army on Feb. 23, which refers to involuntary separation for reasons ranging from being physically unfit to a civilian criminal conviction.
Gray was arraigned Monday in Circuit Court on a charge of second-degree murder, appearing via Zoom before Judge Christine Kuriyama.
His public defender asked for supervised release or bail, but the court found that electronic monitoring or home detention is not appropriate since he has no verified home address.
The judge confirmed that Gray continued to be held without bail in accordance with the grand jury bench warrant.
Gray’s trial is set for June 5 before Judge Rowena Somerville.
Video surveillance showed a man stomping on Matsumoto’s head and chest multiple times as he lay motionless in a stairwell.
A witness said he saw a man dragging the victim down some steps in front of the apartment building and placing his body on a wall before fleeing.
Matsumoto texted he was going to evict Gray, and had filed a complaint against him and Cheryl Dula in December for defaulting on a rental agreement for an apartment at 620 Sheridan St.
“Due to privacy concerns, we cannot release the reason for his separation or characterization of his service,” said spokesperson William Costello of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, based in Fort Knox, Ky.
Gray’s last duty assignment was at Schofield Barracks. His home of record was Georgia when he joined the Army in July 2017.
Gray served as a cavalry scout in Germany from 2017 to 2019. Within that period he also deployed to Turkey.
