Newswatch

June 14--Man gets 10 years for hit-run crash

A former Navy officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday for killing a Hawaii Pacific University student in a hit-and-run crash in front of the school's Hawaii Loa campus.

Dominic Franklyn, 31, received the maximum sentence from Circuit Judge Karen Ahn for leaving the scene after running over and killing Mariah Danforth-Moore on Nov. 20, 2011.

Honolulu police said Danforth-Moore, of Oneida, Wis., was in a crosswalk on Kame­ha­meha Highway when a car struck her. The driver continued without stopping. Franklyn turned himself in two days later.

Police seized his white BMW sedan, which had severe front-end damage.

Franklyn pleaded guilty in February to leaving the scene of the crash.

At Friday's sentencing Franklyn also pleaded no contest to unrelated charges for insurance fraud and attempted theft. Ahn sentenced Franklyn to two five-year concurrent terms for those offenses.

Defense lawyer Richard Hoke Jr. previously said that Franklyn served six years as a Navy officer and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the incident that killed Danforth-Moore.

On July 23, one year and eight months after Danforth-Moore's death, police cited Franklyn for speeding for driving 43 mph in a 25 mph zone. He paid a fine a week later.

Roadwork will close part of H-1 freeway

Construction will shut down a stretch of the H-1 freeway in town starting Sunday.

The state's most heavily used freeway will be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday nights through Friday mornings in both directions from Likelike Highway to the area near Ward Avenue as crews work to complete the H-1 rehabilitation proj­­ect.

The freeway closures in town will last until June 26, weather permitting, state transportation officials say.

Drivers have already had to cope for months with full closures on the H-1 in a single direction.

Crews contracted by the state Department of Transportation are aiming to complete the $42 million proj­­ect in July, about two months ahead of schedule.

Texas woman dies in fall

Maui police have identified a woman who died Thursday in a fall from a ledge in Kipa­hulu as Cheryl Black, 54, of McKinney, Texas.

An autopsy is pending.

Maui firefighters, responding to the 5:31 p.m. alarm from the area commonly called Oheo Gulch pools, found Black unconscious, lying halfway in the water at the lower pool at Oheo Gulch, makai of Hana Highway. Black was trying to get from one pool to another when she fell 15 feet.

People at the pools performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A fire helicopter airlifted her to a landing zone at nearby campgrounds. Medical personnel attempted to resuscitate her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Man denies murder charge

A Hawaii island man pleaded not guilty Friday in Kona Circuit Court to murder in the death of a musician who was reported missing last year, West Hawaii Today reported.

Martin Booth of Kawai­hae appeared in court on charges of second-degree murder. His trial has been set for October.

Booth is accused of killing Robert Keawe Lopaka Ryder, 37, of Kailua-Kona, whose body was discovered March 10 on vacant land between Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Puako Beach Drive. His relatives told police they had not heard from him since November.

Following an indictment by a Hawaii County grand jury, police arrested Booth, who has been in the Hawaii Community Correctional Center since February pending trial on charges including crystal meth trafficking and firearm offenses.

___

(c)2014 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services