By JOHN BURNETT
A former amateur mixed martial artist and competition surfer was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for killing a man in a bar fight and intimidating a witness to the fight.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara sentenced 22-year-old Waylen Keone Carenio to eight years in prison for manslaughter and another four years for intimidating witness Clyde Lewis, who saw the Dec. 3 fight outside Karma Hawaii Sports Bar in Hilo that resulted in the death the following day of 44-year-old Roy Williams Jr. The judge ordered that the sentences run consecutively.
Carenio, who pleaded guilty to the charges, could have received up to 25 years imprisonment if sentenced consecutively for both offenses, or Hara could have granted him probation as a first-time felony offender. The judge instead opted to sentence Carenio as a “young adult defendant” — guidelines that allowed him to order the eight-year prison term for manslaughter, which carries a possible 20-year sentence.
Carenio’s attorney, Vaughan Winbourne Jr., said Williams’ death was the result of “a mutual affray” and said that Clyde Lewis would have testified at trial — if the case had gone to trial — that Williams was the aggressor.
“This was not a mutual affray; this was not a fight,” countered Deputy Prosecutor Mike Kagami. “Any attempt to call it that is just wrong.” He referred to witness Delsin Tolentino, a cab driver he described as “the only one that wasn’t at Karma’s, wasn’t drinking (and) wasn’t involved with either side.”
“His statement to the police is that this defendant was the aggressor the whole time,” Kagami said. “He is the one that started the physical fight; he’s the one that ended the physical fight.”
Although there was a packed courtroom for the sentencing, there was none of the volatility that occurred in February when state sheriff’s deputies cleared the courtroom following testy exchanges between the families and friends of Williams and Carenio. Williams’ fiancée, told the court she felt “so much pain” in her heart to see “the individual who has taken the life of my companion away from me.”
“There will never be another hug, kiss, handshake, smile, laughter and the love shared between us,” she said. “My sons and I continue to struggle with the emotional distress of not having him in our lives. … We struggle with the pain each day of our lives and continue to mourn the loss.”
Williams’ fiancée Halnette Chartrand asked the judge to sentence Carenio to the maximum term, saying “there is no punishment equal for the love that has been lost.”
Turning to Carenio, she said: “I’ve never felt such animosity until Dec. 4, 2011. … As much as I struggle with the loss of Roy, I struggle with my own morals to forgive.”
Carenio apologized to Williams’ family and friends, saying he wishes he “could push the rewind button” on his life.
“I know there is nothing that I can say that will take away the hurt that I have caused and the loss you must live with. I honestly had no intention of getting into an altercation with or causing harm to Roy Williams on that night.”
Carenio maintained that he was defending himself and that Williams had called him out to fight.
“I wish I could go back and fix it all, but I can’t,” he said. “… I will forever live with regret for not walking away from that confrontation.”
While passing sentence, Hara told Carenio the case is “a difficult one.”
“It’s a tragedy to the victim, his family and friends, but it’s also a tragedy for you, especially when I read the letters from your former teachers and instructors from the Lanakila (Learning) Center. They seem to hold you in high regard and I think they had high hopes for you,” the judge stated.
“… While the court recognizes that the state of mind in the manslaughter charge is one of recklessness, the intimidating a witness offense is done with intention, and you used physical force along with the threat that Mr. Lewis better not get back to the next court date to testify about you. … While there is some dispute as to whether you or Mr. Williams was the aggressor, I think there can be no dispute as to the conduct as to Mr. Lewis.”
Afterward, Nawai Chartrand, Halnette Chartrand’s father, said the family holds no animosity toward Carenio’s family, but had hoped for the maximum sentence.
“Like my daughter stated about forgiveness, it will take some time, you know, for my daughter and, of course, for our family,” he said. “… As we walk away from this courtroom today, we might not approve of the decision that was made, but like I remind my daughter and my family, it’s an earthly thing. … We look forward to what’s gonna happen in the next world.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
