A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty yesterday to a lesser charge of manslaughter for beating a homeless man last August and throwing him into Nuuanu Stream. Man pleads guilty in
beating of homelessBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comPedro Velarde faces 20 years when sentenced Sept. 3 before Circuit Judge Marie Milks. He also faces an additional five years for an unrelated assault at a bus stop in May 2000 in which he broke another man's nose.
Benjamin Amarino, 59, drowned after suffering head injuries in the August 2001 assault, according to medical examiners.
Velarde and another man, Alvin Samau, also 19, were both charged with second-degree murder in connection with Amarino's death after a witness identified the two. Second-degree murder is punishable by life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
The witness told police Velarde and Samau punched Amarino, who appeared to be intoxicated.
The witness also told police he saw both men striking Amarino with bricks and rocks so hard that he could hear the impact on the man's head before they "clotheslined" the victim into the stream.
Velarde later admitted to police the beating stemmed from a dispute over a cigarette. He told police he and Samau were drinking at a bus stop at River and South Beretania streets when Amarino asked them for a cigarette. They did not know Amarino personally but recognized him as someone who frequented the area.
When Samau asked Amarino if he had a quarter to pay for the cigarette, Amarino allegedly began swearing. Velarde said Samau punched, kicked and hit Amarino with beer cans and bricks.
Milks gave Samau until Tuesday to decide whether to go to trial or accept an offer by prosecutors.
Velarde's attorney, deputy public defender Ronette Kawakami, called the agreement a fair resolution to the charges against her client but declined further comment pending a resolution of the charges against Samau.