Family of beating victim, 20, demands justice
Family members of 20-year-old Keenan Blair, whose severely beaten body was found in Paia on Feb. 1, hold signs outside Hoapili Hale, the state courthouse building in Wailuku, on Friday morning. His photo is on the T-shirt worn by his mother, Angel Furtado, and the sign held by his cousin, Keani Pagan. — The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photo
Keani Pagan (right) and Alayna Pagan hold signs asking for justice for their cousin, Keenan Blair, whose body was found in Paia on Feb. 1. They are standing along Main Street outside the state courthouse building in Wailuku on Friday morning. — The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photo
Family members of 20-year-old Keenan Blair, whose severely beaten body was found in Paia on Feb. 1, hold signs outside Hoapili Hale, the state courthouse building in Wailuku, on Friday morning. His photo is on the T-shirt worn by his mother, Angel Furtado, and the sign held by his cousin, Keani Pagan. — The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photo
Keani Pagan (right) and Alayna Pagan hold signs asking for justice for their cousin, Keenan Blair, whose body was found in Paia on Feb. 1. They are standing along Main Street outside the state courthouse building in Wailuku on Friday morning. — The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photo
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WAILUKU -- Family members said they were seeking justice for a 20-year-old man whose body was found in Paia, as they held signs outside the Wailuku courthouse Friday morning.
"My son was brutally beaten to death," said Keenan Blair's mother, Angel Furtado. "I want to make sure justice gets served, and the court system doesn't fail me. We'll be here for every court hearing they have."
Police opened a murder and kidnapping investigation after Blair's severely beaten body was discovered at about 12:30 p.m. Feb. 1 in the area of Holomua Road and Baldwin Avenue. Officers later found that a vehicle owned by Blair had been set on fire at another location in Paia.
William Douglas Allen, 39, whom police described as a suspect, was arrested at about 6 p.m. the same day when an off-duty police sergeant saw Allen in the Paia municipal parking lot and called police dispatch, police said.
Police said the investigation showed that Blair and Allen knew each other.
After being arrested, Allen, who is homeless, was released pending further investigation of second-degree murder, first-degree arson and kidnapping, police records show. But he continued to be held at the Maui Community Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 bail after also being arrested on warrants in a probation-violation case.
On Friday afternoon, Furtado said she learned from the Maui County prosecutor's office that the murder case against Allen was proceeding.
"I was so happy to hear that," she said. "I was so ecstatic."
The prosecutor's office couldn't be reached for comment Friday.
Furtado said people inside Hoapili Hale, the state courthouse building, could hear the honking of passing vehicles as she and several family members and friends of her son held signs along Main Street in the morning.
Furtado, who lives in Kihei, said Blair is the second of her five children. He was born in Hilo and raised in Lahaina, living with Furtado's mother and attending Lahainaluna High School until age 15. He went to Maui High School while living with Furtado before her mother moved to Texas and took Blair with her.
About a year-and-a-half ago, he moved back to Maui, Furtado said.
She described Blair as a "free-spirited child."
"My son was a humble person," she said. "He loved music. He loved being goofy. He was the one that made everyone laugh.
"He never really did anybody any wrong. He always tried to help people. He was a good kid. He was a really good kid."
His cousin, Keani Pagan, said Blair lived with her family for a while.
"We used to do everything together," said Pagan, who is a year younger than Blair. "It just sucks knowing somebody took him from us. He was so young."
Her sister, Alayna Pagan, recalled how Blair once fell asleep during what was supposed to be an all-nighter and his cousins drew on Blair's face. When he awoke, "he was laughing, but he was all mad," she said.
Blair wanted to be on his own and was living with his girlfriend in his car at Paia Bay, Furtado said.
"He came to my house every other day," she said. "He would call me. I would pick him up from there.
"I made sure he called me every morning. He kept in contact."
She last saw Blair the night of Jan. 29, three days before his body was found.
"He came to my house and he asked me for gas money," she said. "Then I had to find out my son passed on social media. Everybody knew. It's just so heartbreaking."
Furtado said she thought Blair was staying at a safe location in the dirt parking lot near the Paia Youth & Cultural Center because other people also camped there. She said she heard that was where her son's white van was found burned.
"It's hard for me to fathom there's not more witnesses," she said.
Furtado said she doesn't know Allen and doesn't know how he knew her son.
While Blair wasn't working, his girlfriend had a job in Paia, Furtado said.
"He was my helper to do my yard work," she said. "He would always help me out with whatever I needed."
Around the time he was planning to move back to Maui, Blair learned he was going to be a father, Furtado said. His son, now 1 year old, lives in Texas with his mother.
"She's heartbroken," Furtado said. "She's been keeping in close contact with me.
"That was my biggest blessing, knowing that a part of him is still here."
A memorial cruise for Blair is planned today from Kahului to Hanakaoo or Canoe Beach in Lahaina. The cost is $5 per car, truck or motorcycle, with participants meeting at Home Depot at 10:30 a.m. Donations will be collected to help Blair's family with expenses for his funeral in March.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.