Man who lost wife and son in Lahaina fire now under investigation in shooting of Maui surfer: Maui Now

Sekonaia “Kona” Takafua, who lost his 39-year-old wife and 7-year-old son in the 2023 Lahaina fire, is now under investigation for the murder of a competitive surfer, according to court documents and Maui Police Commission reports.

Shawn Lewis was found with a gunshot wound on Sept. 15 near the intersection of Honoapiʻilani Highway and Waiolu Place in Waikapū and was later pronounced dead at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

Four days after the shooting, Maui police arrested Takafua on an unrelated firearms offense. However, Second Circuit Court documents indicated that Takafua was under investigation for Lewis’ death.

Maui police investigators have not released information about a possible motive for the shooting or whether the two men knew each other. Takafua was living in Lahaina when he lost several family members in the forest fire on August 8, 2023.

According to Alaska news station KTUU, Takafua’s family members said he was at work when the fire broke out and that he was unable to reach his family due to a gas station explosion near the family’s home. His wife’s parents, Fa’aso Tone and Maluifonua Tone, also died in the fire. All four were reportedly found in a burned-out car near their home.

Lewis, known as “Bigfoot” by the local surfing community because of his partially amputated left leg, was living in Honokōwai at the time of the fire, according to the property manager, but had moved to Wailuku several months ago.

In 2021, Lewis represented Hawaii at the International Surfing Association World Para Surfing Championships.

A report submitted to members of the Maui Police Commission on Oct. 23 said police were notified of a vehicle accident by an automatic iPhone accident detection alert from the area on Sept. 15 at 11:30 p.m. The dispatcher also received information that the male driver of the vehicle was experiencing convulsions.

“Originally this was a single car accident,” Maui Deputy Police Chief Reid Pursley told police commissioners. “Upon arrival, officers discovered the driver was a 42-year-old man who had suffered a gunshot wound. Apparently this caused him to lose control of the vehicle and fall.”

Responding police found a red minivan on the side of the Honoapiʻilani Highway where a passerby was pressing a shirt on the male driver’s neck to stop the bleeding. The victim was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead about an hour and a half later on September 16th.

Police recovered two cartridge cases at the crash site. Investigators also obtained surveillance footage of the incident from the Maui Tropical Plantation guard shack, which showed a blue 2019 Hyundai Sonata identified as the vehicle driven by the suspected shooter.

According to Police Commission reports, the suspect vehicle was recovered and impounded on September 19 and “further investigation identified a suspect.”

A court document said Takafua was arrested four days after the shooting on unrelated firearms charges stemming from an April 4 incident in which Maui police were called to search for a gray BMW sedan, which blocked an area along Kaae Road in Wailuku. When police arrived, officers found Takafua and another man sleeping in the vehicle.

Because officers discovered marijuana and other drug paraphernalia clearly visible in the sedan, the vehicle was impounded and towed to Kīhei Police Station. Takafua, who was initially arrested for car theft, was released after police confirmed the vehicle had not been stolen.

While searching the vehicle, police found a loaded .45-caliber handgun without a serial number that was described as a “ghost gun,” along with additional .45-caliber ammunition in a black backpack and two 9mm bullets in the front seat, according to court documents.

When the guns and ammunition were found, Maui police attempted to contact Takafua and his passenger Deeshann Tabion McCormack again, but court documents said their whereabouts were “currently unknown.”

On September 20, police arrested Takafua again and prosecutors later charged him with five firearms offenses, including carrying a loaded firearm on a public street, a place to store ammunition, a place to store a firearm, confiscation of a firearm without serial number, and possession of an automatic firearm with prohibited detachable ammunition magazines.

District court documents filed by the Maui County Prosecutor’s Office and Takafua’s defense attorney indicate that while he was charged with the firearms offenses in April, he is also being formally investigated for murder in connection with the shooting of Lewis.

Prosecutors said Takafua “did not know that police could determine he was the killer in a drive-by drive four days after the shooting.”

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ronson Ibarra argued for the court to continue to hold Takafua on bail in the firearms case, but stated that Takafua “is now fully aware that he is likely to be charged with murder in the near future, which shows that a serious “There is a risk that he will flee to avoid justice.”

Takafua’s defense attorney, Michael Sweetwater, also confirmed the murder charge in court documents filed Nov. 4, saying that when his client went to trial in the gun case “without knowing” that he was the “suspect in a murder investigation.” . ”

Sweetwater said in court documents: “. . . Since the state has not made a clear claim that this is a murder investigation, the defendant has no knowledge of a murder.”

Sweetwater also said Takafua is currently unemployed after working “two full-time jobs in security.”

Police set bail in the gun case at $1 million, but a judge reduced it to $100,000 on Nov. 21. Takafua remains in custody. A jury trial is scheduled to begin on February 25.

CORRECTION: The shooting victim, Shawn Lewis, lived in Honokōwai at the time of the fire and in Wailuku at the time of the shooting. An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated that he was living on Front Street at the time of the fire. Author Rod Antone apologizes for the error.

*Rod Antone is a freelance writer for the Hawai’i Journalism Initiative.