The Puna man charged with shooting to death a Mountain View man last week did so at the behest of his sister, the girlfriend of the victim, according to arrest records.
Dwayne “CJ” Cory Wallace Jr., 26, was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree murder after allegedly shooting 26-year-old Peter Cyrus Grammer in the chest with a shotgun in the Orchidland Estates subdivision on Aug. 25.
While Wallace’s attorney waived a preliminary hearing that was to take place Wednesday, an arrest record from the incident provides new details about the shooting.
According to a statement made by Wallace to police, his sister, Krystal Kahalioumi, who was Grammer’s girlfriend at the time, encouraged Wallace to shoot Grammer after an argument between her and Grammer on Aug. 25.
Wallace allegedly told police that after a confrontation on North Kulani Road in Mountain View, Kahalioumi asked Wallace “if he was ready to go shoot Grammer,” to which he replied, “Yeah, I ready.”
After the argument, Grammer was picked up in a vehicle by his mother and another woman, and the three proceeded to the Mountain View Mini Mart, according to documents.
However, the two women told police they realized they were being tailed in a vehicle driven by Wallace, with Kahalioumi in the passenger seat.
Grammer’s mother stated Wallace allegedly followed her vehicle back to North Kulani Road, where Wallace overtook her vehicle and stopped in front of her vehicle near the property where the previous altercation took place. Grammer, Kahalioumi and Wallace all left their respective vehicles, according to police.
According to Wallace’s statement, Kahalioumi briefly grabbed Wallace’s gun — a 20-gauge pump-action shotgun — but dropped it back into Wallace’s vehicle and began arguing with Grammer.
Grammer’s mother told police that Grammer approached Wallace with his hands empty and raised above his shoulders.
Wallace told police that he then left the vehicle, reached back into it to grab his gun, pointed it at Grammer and pulled the trigger. It failed to fire because the gun’s safety was on.
Wallace then allegedly removed the safety and pulled the trigger again, and the shot struck Grammer “center mass,” as Wallace described.
According to his statement, Wallace then returned to his vehicle and left the scene. Grammer’s mother told police that Wallace first grabbed the spent shotgun shell before departing.
A neighbor told police that they saw Kahalioumi next to Grammer screaming, “Hang on, babe.”
At multiple points in the police documents, Wallace is paraphrased as “acknowledg(ing) that if you shoot somebody they will die, but nobody told him not to shoot (Grammer).”
The gun, Wallace told police, was loaded with “one slug round (and) four bird shot rounds,” but it is not immediately clear, based on arrest reports, which type of ammunition killed Grammer.
Wallace’s bail remains set at $1.16 million. A status conference in the case is scheduled for Sept. 9.
As of Wednesday, Hawaii County police were still searching for Kahalioumi for questioning as a witness.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
