Prosecutors are seeking to revoke bail for a 20-year-old Kailua-Kona man who faces a manslaughter charge for a fatal traffic collision in 2022.
According to the motion filed Sept. 18 by Deputy Prosecutor Charles Murray III, Trevor Shoemaker-Hassey was arrested Sept. 17 on suspicion of driving after his license was suspended for DUI and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
Shoemaker-Hassey, who was free on $75,000 bail, was pulled over by police near the Triangle Park parking lot on Kuakini Highway in Kailua-Kona after officers spotted him driving with “an unconscious female passenger in his vehicle, who was later determined to be suffering from an overdose related to opiate use,” the motion states.
“Within the driver’s side door of the vehicle … police observed a syringe containing a brown- and amber-colored liquid (consistent) with heroin,” according to the document.
The motion states that Shoemaker-Hassey’s “continued operation of a vehicle in defiance of his license suspension, as well as allegations of drug use connected to operating said vehicle” indicate he “poses a serious danger to the community.”
According to a police log, Shoemaker-Hassey was taken into custody by police at about 6 p.m. Saturday and charged via bench warrant with violating terms of his bail. Prosecutors had sought no bail for the bench warrant, but Kona Circuit Judge Wendy DeWeese set Shoemaker-Hassey’s bail for the arrest warrant at $100,000.
Shoemaker-Hassey is scheduled for a hearing at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 9 before 3rd Circuit Chief Judge Robert Kim regarding the motion to revoke his bail.
Shoemaker-Hassey posted $75,000 bail on March 21 after being indicted by a Kona grand jury on charges of manslaughter, first-degree negligent homicide, DUI, DUI under 21, reckless driving, second-degree reckless endangering, harassment and promoting intoxicating compounds.
The manslaughter and negligent homicide charges are alternatives to be considered by a jury and/or judge, and Shoemaker-Hassey can’t be convicted of both.
The charges stem from a two-car collision on July 14, 2022, at the intersection of Mamalahoa Highway (Highway 190) and Akina Place in North Kona that killed 63-year-old Rhonda Dee Freedman of Kailua-Kona.
Officers responding to a 9:18 p.m. call that evening determined that a white 2019 Nissan Rogue driven by Shoemaker-Hassey was southbound on Mamalahoa Highway when he crossed over the double-solid yellow lines and struck Freedman’s white 2018 Nissan Versa head-on.
Freedman was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where she died at 10:51 p.m.
Shoemaker-Hassey, then 19, and his 17-year-old female passenger weren’t injured in the collision.
In a separate case, Shoemaker-Hassey was charged via penal summons in May for driving under the influence of drugs on Dec. 1, 2022, according to court records. He’s scheduled for arraignment and plea Oct. 16 in Kona District Court.
Shoemaker-Hassey’s license was suspended for a year on Dec. 1, 2022.
In addition, on July 19, 2023, Shoemaker-Hassey was arrested on suspicion of DUI after an officer reportedly witnessed him swerve on Queen Kaahumanu Highway in Kailua-Kona just north of Nani Kailua Drive.
He also was booked on suspicion of driving with a suspended license and without insurance.
Those charges are still under investigation and haven’t yet been filed.
As of Tuesday, Shoemaker-Hassey remained in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
