Brother cites
golf-club attack

The brother of an 18-year-old man who drowned at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor after allegedly stabbing three people said he last saw his brother being attacked by two men with golf clubs.

Frederick Flores: The 18-year-old drowned after allegedly stabbing three people

Police believe Frederick Flores killed surfer Kirk Hodges, stabbed and injured another man and a woman, and then drowned after running away from the scene.

However, Flores' older brother, Michael, 22, said that after the stabbing, both of them were running away along with everyone else when his brother fell down. Michael said two men were chasing them, one of whom was riding a bicycle and allegedly holding two golf clubs.

"He gave one golf (club) to another guy and my brother was on his stomach," Michael Flores said. "They hit him on the back.

"I didn't see what happened after that ... there was more people coming to get us."

The Medical Examiner's Office said the cause of Flores' death was asphyxia due to drowning and determined his death to be accidental.

Police arrested brother Bryan Flores, 20, at the scene at 2:52 a.m. Monday, and later that morning arrested brother Michael along with another 18-year-old man and a juvenile. Bryan remains in police custody on suspicion of murder and two counts of attempted murder. The other three suspects, including Michael Flores, have been released pending further investigation.

Speaking from his Kalihi home after being released yesterday, Michael said he thinks his brother drowned because of the men who attacked him in retaliation for the stabbings.

"He's not a good swimmer, but he can swim," Michael Flores said. "I think after they whacked him with the golf clubs they threw him in the water."

Flores identified the man on the bike as one of Hodges' friends, and police did recover a golf club near the area where the younger Flores drowned.

Police said on Monday that Flores did not have visible injuries on his body when he was pulled out of the water.

For now, Flores' drowning is being investigated as an unattended death and that the only murder in the case so far involves Hodges.

Police said the fight between Flores and his friends and a group of surfers sleeping in their vehicles began at about 2 a.m. Monday when a woman from the surfers' group told the seven-to-10 people in Flores' group to be quiet.

The woman was later identified as Terry Lee Contreras, who was stabbed in her arms and upper torso and taken to the Queen's Medical Center in serious condition. Another man, Kala Kekuewa, was stabbed and taken to Queen's in critical condition. Contreras was upgraded to fair condition yesterday and Kekuewa was in serious but stable condition.

Police said Hodges woke up in his van and came outside to help and was stabbed in the lung and heart by Frederick Flores while he was fighting Bryan Flores.

Although Frederick Flores is believed to have killed Hodges and stabbed the other victims, police administered a polygraph test on Bryan Flores yesterday. Witnesses told police that they also saw Bryan Flores with a knife and that he stabbed one or more of the victims. Police so far have recovered one buck knife with 4-inch blade from the harbor believed to be the murder weapon.

When asked if his brother stabbed anyone, Michael Flores said no. He said his brother did not have a knife and that he did not know where the knife came from or who did the stabbing.

Frederick Flores was one of four brothers in the Flores family who came with their mother Florentina from the Philippines in 1997. She said her sons left to eat at Zippy's at about 1 a.m. Monday and she did not hear about Frederick's death until 4 a.m.

"My son can swim ... I don't know what happened," she said.