Bare former SoCal swimming champion beat Maui guard to dying, police say

A former Orange County collegiate swimmer is dealing with a homicide cost after prosecutors say that, whereas bare, he brutally beat a 63-year-old safety guard to dying with a 5-gallon water bottle.

Legend Storer, 20, was as soon as a aggressive swimmer who was a two-time champion in Hawaii’s Maui Interscholastic League and went on to be a member of the swim staff at Concordia University in Irvine. He has pleaded not responsible on Friday to expenses of second-degree homicide, first-degree housebreaking and indecent publicity, in accordance with court docket information.

Storer, a resident of Lahaina, stays in custody.

Myles S. Breiner, one of many attorneys for Storer, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

A spokesperson for Concordia University confirmed that Storer was a scholar for the 2024-25 educational yr and was a member of the boys’s swim staff however didn’t return the next yr.

According to the college’s website, he graduated from Maui Preparatory Academy in 2024, the place he was a champion swimmer.

The Maui Police Department stated in a written assertion that the incident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. on Aug. 5 when a police dispatcher obtained a report of a unadorned man wandering by means of a Kahana neighborhood.

The space is a peaceable, scenic beachfront neighborhood on the northwest coast of Maui, in accordance with actual property firm Hawai’i Life.

It was there that Maui law enforcement officials got here throughout Storer, who had quite a few abrasions, in accordance with the assertion. Storer, who was not named within the assertion however was later recognized in court docket information, was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center for analysis, in accordance with police.

Two hours later, Maui law enforcement officials responded to reviews of an unresponsive male on the Sands of Kahana, a condominium resort at 4299 Lower Honoapi’ilani Road in Lahaina.

Arriving officers realized from paramedics {that a} 63-year-old Lahaina man had died from accidents he sustained on the location. Authorities later recognized the person as Michael Dyer. According to a fundraiser for Dyer’s spouse, he was working an in a single day shift as a safety guard on the condominium complicated. Police investigators, who reviewed surveillance safety footage, stated that at 1:45 a.m., a unadorned man wandered into the sufferer’s workplace and assaulted him earlier than fleeing on foot.

“Investigators subsequently determined that the male located in Kahana was the same individual depicted in the surveillance footage,” the assertion learn.

Claudia Reed, a resident of the realm, informed Hawaii News Now that she heard “a lot of screaming and commotion” and that the incident left her feeling unsafe.

Maui police stated that after Storer was launched from the hospital he was taken to Wailuku Police Station, the place he was booked into jail in reference to Dyer’s homicide.

Dyer’s co-worker Bell Hill informed Hawaii News Now that Dyer was having lunch when the assault occurred.

“He was a great person and he was just in his office having a cheeseburger on his lunch break,” Hill stated. “It’s horrible.”

Family and buddies of Dyer have since been attempting to boost $28,000 on GoFundMe to assist his spouse, Joy, pay for funeral prices, residing bills and remedy classes.

“Joy’s emotional journey is just beginning as she starts to process this devastating event,” the web page reads. “They were married for 26 years.”