A retired law enforcement law officer was sentenced Monday by federal authorities to 46 months of prison Monday for an at-sea assault of an elderly cruise ship passenger en route to Hilo almost four years ago.
U.S. District Judge Jill Otake also sentenced 78-year-old John McAvay of Henderson, Nev., to a year of supervised release —the federal equivalent of probation —once McAvay is released from prison.
Otake found McAvay guilty of assault resulting in serious bodily injury after a non-jury trial in May 2022.
According to Clare E. Connors, U.S. Attorney for Hawaii, McAvay on Oct. 25, 2018, committed an unprovoked assault on an elderly passenger on a cruise ship, resulting in life-threatening and protracted injuries.
McAvay then fled the scene of the assault and failed to render aid, call for help, or report the incident.
The victim, a 73-year-old man was airlifted from the cruise ship to the Hilo Medical Center in critical condition on Oct. 25, 2018, and then to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where he remained hospitalized for approximately one month.
The victim was later transported to a hospital in California and subsequently to a rehabilitation facility.
As a result of the assault, the victim, whom court documents identify only by initials, suffered from serious cognitive and physical impairments — including confusion, memory loss and immobility — until his death on Feb. 6, 2019.
McAvay was arrested on Oct. 29, 2018, after he was identified by another witness.
In finding McAvay guilty, Otake stated that although McAvay “could have simply walked away,” he instead “sucker-punched” the victim in the head out of anger. The victim, Otake found, posed “no threat” to McAvay.
“There is also no doubt that defendant McAvay acted cowardly, reprehensibly and despicably,” Otake said.
After the victim’s death, McAvay also was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Otake found him not guilty of this count because the court could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that a pre-existing cancer alone would not have caused the elderly man’s death.
See Thursday’s Tribune-Herald for a more detailed story.
