Son of Honolulu police sergeant sentenced to life for fatal shooting

HONOLULU (KHON2) –Emotions ran high Thursday at the sentencing of a man found guilty of murder.

Nainoa Damon faced life in prison without parole.

Families from both sides were in court — one side asking for the maximum sentence, the other requesting mercy.

Blake Kolona raised his son’s urn in the air before the judge. “I carry him. I’m so proud of him. He was trying to protect the little guy,” Kolona said, visibly in pain over the loss of his son, Haaheo Kolona.

Family members from both sides shared the profound impact of the tragic event in a packed courtroom.

“The day my son was murdered, my entire world crumbled. And I’m still trying to piece it back together,” Carolee Kolona, mother of Haaheo, wrote in a letter read in court.

Damon, who was 19 at the time and the son of a Honolulu police sergeant, was found guilty in May of murder in a robbery gone wrong on Round Top Drive on Tantalus two years ago.

On Thursday, he apologized to the Kolona family and asked for a second chance.

“I humbly ask, I sincerely ask, for mercy,” Damon said.

Before handing down her sentence, Circuit Court Judge Shanlyn Park urged both families to turn their grief into action — to work toward preventing violence in their communities.

“I ask all of you, as part of your healing, to do everything in your power to keep these tragedies from happening again,” Park said.

Considering Damon’s age and the fact that he had no prior adult criminal record, Judge Park sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole, with a mandatory minimum of 15 years, credited for time served. His other charges, including firearm offenses, terroristic threatening, and robbery, will run concurrently.

Damon’s family quietly left the courtroom.

“I’m hopeful. Everything is in God’s hands,” said Carnation Damon, the defendant’s grandmother.

Blake Kolona expressed his anger and frustration outside the courtroom.

“I’m not happy. This man killed my son and got only 15 years minimum,” Kolona said.

“I was disappointed given the gravity of the impact this case had on all those involved,” said Anna Ishikawa-Jackson, deputy prosecuting attorney.

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The Hawaii Paroling Authority will now set the minimum sentence Damon must serve. Prosecutors plan to request a sentence longer than the judge’s 15-year minimum.