A woman who pleaded guilty to shooting an acquaintance in the chest on March 28, 2014, has seen her sentence amended. ADVERTISING A woman who pleaded guilty to shooting an acquaintance in the chest on March 28, 2014, has seen
A woman who pleaded guilty to shooting an acquaintance in the chest on March 28, 2014, has seen her sentence amended.
Randi-Keli K. Banagan, 22, of Captain Cook, was charged with 20 counts after shooting a 26-year-old Holualoa man in the chest on Waiono Meadows Road.
During the probable cause hearing, the victim, Jeffrey Keanaaina, spoke about the shooting.
“(Banagan) looked at me,” Keanaaina said at the time. “We had previous problems before. She does not like me. She reached in the middle (of the car) and grabbed a gun.”
Keanaaina said he and Banagan had a heated exchange before she shot him with a rifle. Then he saw her “grin” and nod her head before she pulled the trigger.
“I can’t really remember what the words were said, but I remember the grin, the words and looking down the barrel,” he said. “I was looking down the barrel.”
In the hearing, he said he fled the area and hid until she drove away a few minutes later.
Officers later recovered two .22-caliber rifles from a different vehicle Banagan was driving, along with a pipe that tested “presumptive positive” for meth.
The counts included attempted murder and 19 drug and firearms charges.
Banagan went through a mental health fitness exam and then an additional exam at her attorney’s request. Five doctors or psychologists filed letters with the court.
She ultimately pleaded guilty to assault in the first degree, which was a reduction in the attempted murder count, improper storage of a loaded long arm and promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree. The remaining charges were dismissed with prejudice.
She was sentenced to 18 months in prison on the assault charge and a year for the other two charges.
Judge Elizabeth Strance also sentenced her to five years probation for the assault charge, four years for firearms storage and four years on the drug charge.
She also entered a guilty plea to unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in another case. She received four years probation for that offense.
According to the Department of Public Safety she will be released on Sept. 21.
Her defense attorney was Dean Kauka and the prosecutor was Jason Kwiat.
