L.A. death follows friend's tragedy

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Daniel Levey and Maxwell "Max" Hazlett were Punahou classmates and good friends who would often share car rides home to Hawai'i Kai.

Dr. Joyce Cassen Levey recalled that on one of those drives, the boys were talking about career goals.

Her son expressed interest in medicine while Hazlett talked about becoming a lawyer.

They were high school juniors then with time to pursue their dreams, she thought to herself.

But three years after their graduation from Punahou, tragedy has struck both families. Nine months ago, Levey, 19, died when he fell while hiking Oahu's Mau'umae Trail.

Now Hazlett is also dead.

A junior at the University of Southern California, Hazlett was shot to death on a Los Angeles street last weekend.

"You never think this kind of thing could happen," Joyce Levey said. "Our hearts go out to Max's family."

Levey said her son's death has made her appreciate time spent with loved ones.

The investigation into Hazlett's death is continuing under the supervision of detective Fred Faustino, a former Pu'unui resident who heads the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division robbery-homicide detail.

Hazlett's body was discovered Saturday at 5:30 a.m. near the intersection of 2nd and Emerald streets, about a block away from his Promenade Towers apartment on Figueroa Street.

The 6.5 square miles along the Figueroa corridor is heavily patrolled by police, Faustino said.

Of the eight homicide cases investigated this year, Hazlett's is the first not related to gang or domestic violence, Faustino said.

Hazlett was dropped off by a friend about 1:30 a.m. Saturday on 2nd Street and was seen walking toward his apartment .

"He felt safe and was known to walk the streets (near his apartment)," Faustino said.

The Daily Trojan, USC's student newspaper, reported yesterday that Hazlett and friends had been at Ivar, a Hollywood nightclub, Friday night.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.