The attempted murder trial of Jared Elizares began Tuesday in Oahu Circuit Court, with the victim testifying about how he was attacked in an unprovoked stabbing in 2023 at the Taqueria El Ranchero restaurant in the Ka Makana Alii mall in Kapolei.
The trial was to have begun with jury selection, but Elizares waived his right to a jury trial Friday and is instead having a bench trial before Circuit Judge Kevin Souza.
“It was a Taco Tuesday the night of Oct. 3, 2023,” Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Mesa said in his opening statement, describing the sudden and violent attack. Robby Bounkanha, 25, and his friend August Haraguchi were shown to their table, and when Bounkanha went to the men’s restroom, Elizares “violently and without provocation” attacked him, Mesa said.
Elizares “came up from behind Robby, wrapped his arms around his shoulders and used a knife to try to cut Robby’s throat,” according to the prosecutor. “Robby was able to grab the defendant’s wrist before the knife could cause a slice, but not before the knife caused a laceration to his neck.”
Bounkanha pushed the knife away, and the two men struggled for control of the weapon, Mesa said, describing how Elizares allegedly pushed the victim against the wall and slammed his head against a urinal. Bounkanha fell to the ground and was on his back in a defensive posture as the defendant tried four times to stab him, successfully piercing his chest and causing the victim’s lung to collapse, according to the prosecutor.
Bounkanha managed to gain hold of the weapon and his attacker’s wrist, disarming Elizares and throwing the knife under a nearby restroom stall.
Mesa said the defendant continued to kick Bounkanha while he lay there. When Bounkanha grabbed one of Elizares’ shoes, the defendant said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and fled the restaurant, removing his remaining shoe and a distinctive hoodie.
“The defendant tried to kill Robby,” Mesa said. “It was not an accident. It was not a result of self-defense. And it was not a result of a mental disease, disorder or defect or emotional disturbance.”
He urged the judge to find Elizares guilty of second-degree attempted murder.
In his testimony Tuesday, Bounkanha said he saw Elizares look at him from behind in the restroom mirror as he was trying to put on some lip piercings he had just bought.
The victim said Elizares then went into a stall and put his right arm around his shoulders and put a small folding knife to his neck and cut him “like a slice.” Bounkanha said he wasn’t sure if he stumbled and hit his head on the urinal or whether Elizares slammed his head into it.
Then while he was on the floor, Elizares lunged the knife toward him four times and hit him once in the chest.
In his opening statement, Elizares’ attorney, William Harrison, said the defendant, who was 23 at the time of the attack, had a difficult childhood. His father committed suicide when he was a toddler, and his brother, who was his best friend and father figure, committed suicide when he was 12, he said.
The defendant’s mother has bipolar disorder, and a year before the stabbing, Elizares was hospitalized in a behavioral health unit, Harrison said.
According to the defense attorney, Elizares had been drinking the whole day of the incident and was sent home from work at a nearby restaurant at 4 p.m. Just prior to the attack, a bartender at Taqueria El Ranchero refused to serve him any more drinks that day.
“Something happened in the restroom,” Harrison said. “At that time something in his mind clicked, and he attacked.”
“We’re not going to challenge the attack,” he said. “The knife came out. The complainant was stabbed and had been cut. (Elizares) actually did something strange. He was strange- looking and he said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and he left the bathroom.
“Even stranger,” Harrison said, he changed his clothes and returned to the restaurant within minutes, asking, “What did I do?”
Harrison told the judge the evidence will provide reasonable doubt that Elizares intended to commit murder.
