A 51-year-old Hawaiian Shores man accused of beating a tenant in his home to death with a baseball bat Saturday morning still had the bloody bat in his left hand when he turned himself in at the Pahoa police station shortly afterward, according to court documents filed by police.
Stanley Marion Cummins, who is charged with second-degree murder for the death of 35-year-old Jace Whitney Ahquin, told police he came to the station to turn in evidence, and mumbled “self-defense is self-defense” as he was being booked, documents state.
Cummins elected to make a statement after being advised of his rights, according to documents.
Cummins allegedly told police he went downstairs to confront Ahquin while the latter was lying in bed and hit him in the head “approximately three times” with the bat.
Public documents don’t contain a motive for the attack.
Puna police responded shortly before 7 a.m. to the Opae Street home after receiving a call by someone reporting, “Jace got hit with a bat.” Responding officers found the door ajar and entered after hearing gasping noises within, according to documents.
Documents state Ahquin was lying supine in a downstairs bed with “a major indentation to his face” and was “gasping for air.”
Ahquin died prior to the arrival of Hawaii Fire Department medics, according to police.
Cummins did not enter a plea during his initial appearance Monday in Hilo District Court. His court-appointed attorney, Don Wilkerson, requested a reduction of the $1 million bail “to a reasonable amount.”
“Mr. Cummins is not employed. He makes $1,100 a month in government assistance,” Wilkerson told Judge Harry Freitas. “He’s unable to make bail. He has no prior record to speak of. He has a pending terroristic threatening charge, I understand, but that’s not a conviction.”
Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Caday asked Freitas to maintain Cummins’ bail, describing the allegations against Cummins as “very serious in this matter.”
“The allegations include the defendant using a baseball bat to strike the victim in the head to the point of expiration,” Caday told the judge. “The defendant does have a pending Circuit Court matter, terroristic threatening in the first degree.
“In that matter, he was granted supervised release over the state’s objection.”
Caday added that in the bail study, which is not a public document, Cummins’ brother stated Cummins “has a history of mental health issues, also a serious drug issue.”
The alleged victim in the terroristic threatening case is another adult man, not Ahquin.
Freitas maintained Cummins’ bail and ordered him to return at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
In addition to the criminal charges Cummins faces, three other individuals, two men and a woman, were granted a temporary restraining order against Cummins on March 16 by Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach. The TRO is in effect for three years from the date of issuance.
Another restraining order against Cummins was granted to a family member on April 6. The protective order, granted by Family Court Judge Darien Ching Nagata, is also in effect for three years.
Cummins is the third individual charged with murder on Hawaii Island since Gov. David Ige declared a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 4.
James Bonham, 66, of Captain Cook is charged with second-degree murder in the April 28 shooting death of his 45-year-old son, Joshua Bonham, on Middle Keei Road in Captain Cook.
Bonham, who said the shooting was in self-defense, was granted court-supervised release without monetary bail despite the objection of the prosecution by Kona Circuit Judge Margaret Masunaga on May 1. He’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 30 in Kona.
And Robert Dean Merrill, 61, of Keaau also faces a second-degree murder charge for allegedly bludgeoning his 82-year-old mother, Betty Jean Merrill, to death on May 1 at their Hawaiian Paradise Park home.
Merrill is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 13 in Hilo District Court. He’s in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $1 million bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
