Sailor alleges racial slur

The Navy petty officer charged
in the death of a Pearl City man
will go to court today

A 22-year-old Navy petty officer, charged yesterday in the murder of his 46-year-old neighbor, told police he got upset after the man used a racial slur against him.

According to a police affidavit, Petty Officer 2nd Class Kendall Edmonds, who is black, told police that he attacked his neighbor Michael Gillum after Gillum used a racial epithet during a confrontation.

Edmonds, charged with second-degree murder, is scheduled to appear in court today. His bail was set at $100,000.

Gillum had complained at 2:30 a.m. Monday about the sailor's loud music before being fatally beaten in the hallway of their Pearl City apartment building, Century Park Plaza, at 1060 Kamehameha Highway, according to police.

Gillum's 13-year-old daughter, who lived with him, called 911 when she heard the fighting in the hallway.

Gillum suffered severe head injuries and was taken to the hospital, where he died of blunt trauma, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

His daughter is staying with her mother's family. The girl's mother has not been in contact with her family since December, according to a family member.

Gillum's background includes multiple arrests between 1981 and 1995, including first-degree terroristic threatening and weapons charges for using a gun to threaten his then-girlfriend, the mother of the 13-year-old. He was convicted of those charges and sentenced to five years' probation, which he completed in 2000. He completed an anger management program at Oahu Community Correctional Center on Dec. 26, 1994.