A man who was fatally stabbed after an altercation Saturday morning in the Waikiki area of Honolulu has been identified by the Marines as 23-year-old Sgt. William Brown from Tennessee.
The Associated Press reports that Brown was taken to the hospital in critical condition after being stabbed in the chest. He later died there.
Honolulu Police Capt. Walter Ozeki told AP that three suspects—a 21-year-old man and a teen boy and girl between the ages of 14 and 16—were arrested a few blocks away from the incident on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Brown was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, who was stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Hawaii’s Kaneohe section. According to a statement from the 3rd Marine Division, Brown was promoted to sergeant on Oct. 1 and would have celebrated his fifth year as a member of the 3rd Battalion on Nov. 17.
He received a number of awards as a Marine, including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, according to the Marines.
“Sgt. Brown was a beloved member of 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, who had been with the unit for five years. He had qualities we value in our Marine noncommissioned officers. His death is tragic, and the battalion joins his family in grief,” Lt. Col. Steven Eastin, battalion commander, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, told Hawaii News Now. “He will always be loved and remembered.”
“He always put a smile on everyone’s face because he always had a smile on his face,” his friend Elijah Estrada told Hawaii News Now. “He didn’t let anything hold him down or break him down; he would push through.”
The Marines are reportedly cooperating with Honolulu police in the investigation into Brown’s death.
Read more at the Seattle Times and Hawaii News Now.