Teenager Charged With Murder After Cockfight Shooting That Killed 2
Bail was set at $2 million for the suspect in the April shooting that killed two people.
A teenager who allegedly opened fire at a Maili cockfight in April is facing murder charges as an adult.
The counts against Shaedan-Styles McEnroe-Keaulii include second-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, three counts of second-degree attempted murder, five counts of carrying a firearm in the commission of a felony, and one for keep a firearm in an improper place.
Shots rang out just after midnight on April 15 at the site of an illegal cockfight at 87-131 Kaukamana Road. Two attendees were killed and three others were injured. McEnroe-Keaulii and another suspect, Jacob Borge, 23, later turned themselves in to police.
Borge was charged with first- and second-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and firearms-related charges. He pleaded not guilty in April.
McEnroe-Keaulii’s bail was set at $2 million, court records show.
The teenager was in family court on Thursday when he was waived as a juvenile to instead be tried as an adult, records show. When his hearing concluded, sheriffs took him into custody and handed him over to police, who placed him under arrest, records show.
McEnroe-Keaulii’s court-appointed attorney, Doris Lum, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The teenager is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Neither the Honolulu Police Department nor the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office responded to a request for comment on Friday afternoon.
The shooting highlighted an ongoing lack of enforcement against cockfighting contests that, given the large amounts of money changing hands, often attract other forms of illegality, including drugs and guns. Cockfighting is a relatively low-level offense in state law, which proves hard to enforce and carries minor penalties.
“It would be a dereliction of duty if lawmakers do not fortify the anemic anti-cockfighting law in the state,” following the shooting, Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action, said in a statement.
In response to a Civil Beat survey in May, only 12 of 76 state lawmakers answered “yes” to the question, “Should Hawaii make cockfighting a felony crime, and should the law be strongly enforced?”
