Tommy Carvalho is scheduled to be arraigned in First Circuit Court on Monday.

A former patient accused of stabbing a Hawaii State Hospital nurse to death on Monday has been indicted on a second-degree murder charge. 

Tommy Kekoa Carvalho, 25, is being held without bail at the Oahu Community Correctional Center and is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, according to Dave Day, special assistant to Attorney General Anne Lopez.

Carvalho was indicted by a grand jury of at least eight people, Day said. Grand jury proceedings are confidential, but at least eight grand jurors must vote to indict before an indictment can be returned, he said. 

Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe, HI PFBentley/Civil Beat/2014
Tommy Carvalho, 25, who was indicted on one count of second-degree murder on Wednesday, will have the opportunity to enter a plea at his arraignment on Monday, according to Dave Day, special assistant to Attorney General Anne Lopez.

Carvalho will have the opportunity to enter a plea on Monday. He does not yet have a court-appointed attorney, Day said. 

Carvalho, who was discharged from the Hawaii State Hospital in August and living in a transitional residential program, is accused of killing Justin Bautista, a 29-year-old licensed professional nurse who had worked at the hospital for four years. 

Hawaii State Hospital Administrator Kenneth Luke said Tuesday that the hospital would be in a “safety stand down” for at least 48 hours after the killing. About five patients were moved from the residential area where Carvalho was living into other supervised programs on campus, he said. 

The hospital was also working to increase its staffing levels in the transitional housing program to seven employees during the day and five at night, Luke said. Recently, there were five employees working during the day shift on average and three at night.

Three psychiatric technicians, one registered nurse and Bautista were working at the time of the stabbing Monday evening, according to Rosemarie Bernardo, spokeswoman for the Department of Health.

Help Power Local, Nonprofit News.

Across the nation and in Hawaii, news organizations are downsizing and closing their doors due to the ever-rising costs of keeping local journalism alive and well.

While Civil Beat has grown year over year, still only 1% of our readers are donors, and we need your help now more than ever.

Make a gift today of any amount, and your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $20,500, thanks to a generous group of Civil Beat donors.

About the Author