WAILUKU — A witness to the slaying of a Hawaii man with a machete has testified the defendant called them “demons” before he attacked.
The Maui News reported Wednesday that 24-year-old Kumulipo Sylva has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the March 2018 killing of 35-year-old Eduardo Alejandro Cerezo.
Kyle Keoho testified during a trial Tuesday that Sylva threatened them with a machete at the Queen Kaahumanu Center on Maui.
Keoho says he heard Sylva say, “You guys are demons, I send them to the moon” before striking Cerezo’s neck with the machete.
Keoho says Sylva then told him, “Believe it or not, he was a demon.”
A prosecutor says Cerezo died instantly.
Sylva’s defense attorney says Sylva was suffering from a mental disorder that caused him to experience delusions.