19-year-old arrested for murder after woman fatally beaten in middle of Makaha roadway

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Honolulu police have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with a gruesome beating death in Makaha late Tuesday.

Witnesses told police the 38-year-old victim was beaten in the middle of the highway.

“I heard all my other neighbors yelling ‘stop!’ So, I guess they were veering off traffic. She was right in the middle of the road,” said one witness, who asked to remain anonymous.

By the time first responders arrived, the victim was unresponsive and could not be revived. She was pronounced dead at the scene about 12:06 a.m. Wednesday.

“She wasn’t recognizable,” one of the witnesses said. “When our neighbors were coming, she was taking her last breath.”

Authorities identified the suspect as Joshua McPeek.

Police said the victim and suspect were related, though they declined to say how.

“The victim and the suspect were arguing before the suspect physically assaulted her, causing her to sustain fatal injuries,” said Lt. Deena Thoemmes, of HPD’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Police were called out to the scene on Farrington Highway near Upena Street around 11:40 p.m.

The suspect was located nearby and arrested for second-degree murder.

Alfred Colins lives right across from where the incident happened and said he was shaken when he heard about it. “This is the first time that something like this happened over here,” he said.

“Most people here is all retired, families, and basically kind of quiet. Look out here, to see this, it’s eye opening, it can happen anywhere.”

People in the community wish there was more they could have done, “I just wish that maybe if we were out a little bit more prior to it -- we could’ve probably helped.”

It’s still unknown what led up to the incident.

A portion of Farrington Highway was shut down during the investigation, but it has since reopened.

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