Pahoa man accused of shooting, killing horse

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A 24-year-old Pahoa man has been charged for fatally shooting a Honomu couple’s pet horse in September.

Marc Lorenzo Agpawa Jr. was served Thursday with a penal summons and complaint charging him with second-degree reckless endangering and night hunting on private lands, both misdemeanors, plus hunting without a license, a petty misdemeanor, county Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen said.

Agpawa was ordered to appear in Hilo District Court at 1:30 p.m. April 4.

He’s accused of killing Onyx, a Friesian mare belonging to Craig Burkholder and Hal Fansler, on the couple’s Honomu property.

The apparent accidental shooting of the horse, who had a 3-month-old foal, occurred in the late night of Sept. 18 or in the early morning of Sept. 19.

According to police, the mare sustained a single gunshot wound.

The accused man reportedly had been helping Fansler and Burkholder’s neighbors rid their property of feral swine — and allegedly shot into the victims’ property after mistaking the horse for a pig in the dark.

Misdemeanor charges carry a potential one-year jail term.

Agpawa has no prior criminal record.