A 20-year-old Kona man died in a Honolulu hospital a week after sustaining a knife wound in a domestic altercation, police said Monday.
A 20-year-old Kona man died in a Honolulu hospital a week after sustaining a knife wound in a domestic altercation, police said Monday.
Ezra Barro of Kailua-Kona was pronounced dead at 4:44 a.m. Sunday at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
At 10:05 p.m. June 21, officers were at Kona Community Hospital for an unrelated case when Barro arrived in a private vehicle and was taken to the emergency room with a laceration to his left forearm. An investigation revealed he received the injury during a domestic confrontation at a home on Awakea Street in Kailua-Kona.
“Police did recover a knife at the scene the night of the incident,” Lt. Gerald Wike of the Kona Criminal Investigations Section said Monday afternoon.
Barro later was transferred to the Honolulu hospital, where he remained in critical condition until his death.
Shortly after midnight June 22, police arrested 18-year-old Synise Santos of Kailua-Kona on suspicion of first-degree assault and domestic abuse.
After conferring with prosecutors, police released Santos from custody the following afternoon pending further investigation.
Police reclassified the case from assault to manslaughter, and Kona police detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Barro’s death.
Detectives also opened a second domestic abuse investigation with Santos as the alleged victim.
Wike said police will withhold further comment on the case pending results of the autopsy.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.