An eyewitness in Honolulu’s Chinatown murder trial told jurors this week he cannot identify the man prosecutors say shot and killed 24-year-old Alize Agresor-Ayala at a Chinatown bus stop on Aug. 19, 2022. He said he was grazed by a bullet and that the chaos at the scene made it impossible for him to be sure who fired. The trial, which has wound through years of pretrial motions and appeals, is scheduled to resume Monday, with the defendant expected to take the stand.
Witness testimony leaves identification in doubt
On the stand, Michael Yonenaga testified he was only about two to three feet from the victims during the confrontation but still could not pick the shooter out of the crowd. He told jurors the wound he suffered made any identification unreliable.
Prosecutors countered with surveillance footage and other evidence, and reporting notes that a man later identified as the defendant was captured on video moving near nearby businesses around the time of the shooting. The same coverage also reports that an HPD criminalist testified gunshot-residue tests on four samples turned up no detectable particles, a forensic gap the defense is pressing as evidence of reasonable doubt, as reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Scene and victim
The shooting happened late the night of Aug. 19, 2022, at a Chinatown bus stop. Family members told reporters the 24-year-old victim was several months pregnant at the time, according to Hawaii News Now. The killing triggered a manhunt, and a grand jury later returned indictments that led to the current prosecution.
Charges and court record
The defendant, who has used aliases including Tony Johnson and Michael Carter, faces one count of second-degree murder, one count of attempted second-degree murder and multiple firearms charges. In the years since the shooting, he has repeatedly challenged bail and sought release. Public court filings and appellate orders describe a long procedural history in the case and note earlier rulings that rejected substantial bail reductions, according to documents available via FindLaw.
What happens next
The trial is scheduled to pick back up Monday, with prosecutors expected to move toward closing arguments after the defense rests and the defendant poised to testify, according to reporting in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Jurors will have to weigh the uncertain eyewitness account against the surveillance footage and the limited forensic findings in a case that has already stretched across several years of court fights.
