HONOLULU — A Hawaii man was found guilty of the attempted murder of a man who got pinned under his own car and died.
A jury Monday also found Brandon Reis, of Pearl City, guilty of using a firearm to commit the attempted murder, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, possessing a firearm while under indictment for other crimes, and carrying a firearm in the open without a license, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
He faces a mandatory life sentence with possible release on parole for the attempted murder at sentencing in January. He also faces a mandatory 20-year prison term for using a firearm in the attempted murder and maximum 10-year terms for each of the other charges.
Kyen Knowles died of asphyxia June 22, 2016, in Honolulu.
The state played for the jury security video that shows Knowles pulling into a parking stall in a mixed-use residential and commercial complex. The video then shows Reis walking toward Knowles from across the parking lot pointing a handgun.
Knowles’ car then is seen reversing into the middle of the parking lot with Reis pointing a gun into the vehicle from the passenger side of the car. As the car is reversing and turning right, the driver door opens, and Knowles exits, is hit by the door and falls to the pavement. The car stops with the front driver-side tire pinning Knowles to the ground.
The video shows Reis move around the front of the car, look at Knowles pinned on the ground, then jog off.
There is no sound on the video. However, it appears Reis fired one shot from the handgun. It did not hit Knowles or the car. Police recovered a single shell casing in the parking lot.
Defense attorney Keith Shigetomi told the jury Reis fired at Knowles in self-defense.
The only evidence of a connection between the two men is that Knowles may have looked funny at Reis’ car earlier, deputy prosecutor David Van Acker said.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
