Kauai man sentenced to life in prison for 2016 killing
LIHUE — A 21-year-old Hawaii man has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the 2016 killing of a Kauai man.
Koma Kekoa Texeira was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 34-year-old Jon Togioka following a two-week trial in March.
Texeira, who was convicted of previous felonies, also was found guilty of use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony and prohibited possession of a firearm.
Texeira, of Waimea, shot Togioka in a deserted area near Burns Field in Hanapepe on Halloween night in 2016, prosecutors said. Togioka’s body was found on the shore near the Port Allen Airport.
Texeira was arrested a few days after the shooting.
“Throughout this entire process our thoughts have remained with the family and friends of Jon Togioka,” prosecutor Justin F. Kollar said. “We cannot bring Jon back, but we can ensure justice for his ohana.”
Navy sailor killed at Pearl Harbor buried in California
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — More than 76 years after he was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Navy sailor has been laid to rest in Southern California.
Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class George Harvey Gibson was buried with full military honors Saturday at Inglewood Park Cemetery near Los Angeles.
The Kansas native was assigned to the USS Oklahoma when the ship was attacked in Hawaii by Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941. The 20-year-old was among 429 crewmen killed but his body was classified as non-recoverable.
The U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced in February that Gibson’s body had been finally accounted for thanks to advances in DNA testing.
Jury sides with couple in disability discrimination lawsuit
WAILUKU — A jury sided with a Maui couple in a $1.9 million disability discrimination lawsuit against their condo association, which fined them thousands of dollars for uncarpeted floors and attempted to sell their unit in foreclosure.
The Villas at Kenolio Association of Apartment Owners fined the couple $200 a day over a two-year period for floors that Greg White said help him see where he is going, said Eric Ferrer, the lawyer who represented White and his wife Michele.
“It was totally egregious,” he said Wednesday. “It was retaliation.”
The wooden floors in the couple’s unit violated the community’s rules, which require second-floor units to have carpeting to prevent noise from traveling down to units underneath, the condo board said.
The floors help White navigate through the home, the couple said. He is blind in his left eye and visually impaired in his right eye.
The jury concluded that White had a disability, and that the couple had asked for a reasonable accommodation from the association.
From wire sources