Trial has been set in the case of a 29-year-old Kawaihae man accused of the nonfatal shooting of another man May 16 at the Honokaa Salvation Army campus.
A Hilo grand jury on May 23 returned a four-count indictment charging Keola J. Whitehead-Shibata with attempted second-degree murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony for the shooting that critically injured 39-year-old Arthur Franklin.
Whitehead-Shibata pleaded not guilty on May 25. Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered Whitehead-Shibata to appear for trial at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 23.
Then-Deputy Public Defender Keith Shigetomi, who has since returned to private practice, requested that Whitehead-Shibata’s bail be reduced. Deputy Prosecutor Lucas Burns objected, and Nakamoto maintained Whitehead-Shibata’s bail at $1.075 million.
Whitehead-Shibata, who had pleaded no contest in November to felony auto theft and drug charges, had been freed on supervised release — a form of cashless bail — while prosecutors and public defenders worked on a deal to get him into inpatient drug treatment. He had missed two court dates for sentencing prior to the shooting, which occurred before numerous witnesses, including Whitehead-Shibata’s father.
According to court documents, Brad Shibata, 48, told police he and Franklin were barbecuing on the side of the Salvation Army building on Rickard Place when Shibata’s son approached them with a handgun and shot Franklin in the neck.
And Franklin himself told officers Whitehead-Shibata shot him twice with a revolver, the documents state.
A Salvation Army spokesman, Envoy Gary Todd, told the Tribune-Herald last month that Franklin, Whitehead-Shibata and Shibata were all on the Honokaa campus to receive services.
Todd said a nurse volunteering in the Salvation Army’s thrift store responded after hearing the gunshots and started treatment on Franklin before police and medics arrived.
Whitehead-Shibata remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.