A 32-year-old man has been charged with murder in connection with the death of another man whose body was found badly burned in a Pearl City apartment fire.
Scott D. Deangelo was charged Thursday with second degree murder and where to keep a firearm. His aggregate bail is set at $500,000. The victim has been tentatively identified as Demond Cox, according to court documents.
Police responded to a call of an argument and a structure fire in a fourth-floor unit of an apartment building at 906 Lehua Avenue on Monday evening. Upon arrival, officers saw large flames coming out of the unit.
Witnesses reportedly saw a man later identified as Deangelo jump from a unit window onto the sidewalk. According to a police affidavit, Deangelo held a gun to his head and told witnesses to “get away” before fleeing in a white Mazda sport utility vehicle.
After Honolulu firefighters put out the blaze, a man’s burnt body was found in the kitchen. A knife with a three-inch blade was also seen near the body.
A Honolulu medical examiner determined that a wound to the victim’s neck was consistent with the knife recovered from the scene, according to the affidavit.
Police say a neighbor said he heard sounds of a physical fight, someone ‘screaming in agony’ and several popping sounds that sounded like gunfire coming from the unit before the blaze does not declare itself. Another neighbor told police that Deangelo frequented the victim’s apartment.
Police located the white SUV on Tuesday morning abandoned along the Kamehameha highway in Punaluu. The vehicle was registered in Cox.
That afternoon, police located Deangelo in Laie with burns to his hand and cuts to his arms. Officers also recovered a loaded pistol from Deangelo’s waist and 21 bullets from his trouser pocket.
Emergency medical services personnel treated him and took Deangelo to the hospital for further treatment.