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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, October 16, 2009

Alcohol, injuries factors in death


Advertiser Staff

A New Mexico woman whose body was found at Waikíkí Beach on Oct. 2 drowned, but other factors that contributed to her death were acute alcohol intoxication and "injuries of the neck consistent with applied pressure," according to the city Department of the Medical Examiner.

Police have said the injuries to 25-year-old Bryanna Antone included bruises and scratches to her chest and a fractured larynx.

Aaron Susa, 31, was indicted Wednesday on second-degree murder charges in connection with her death.

Susa was released from custody by state prison officials the day before Antone's body was found in the waters fronting The Royal Hawaiian hotel.

Susa, who was the last person seen with Antone during the early morning hours of Oct. 2 while she was still alive and uninjured, denied harming Antone.

Susa told investigators he and Antone had consensual sex in the ocean fronting The Royal Hawaiian and that he argued with her afterward.

He said he last saw Antone walking away unharmed toward Diamond Head along the beach while he headed in the opposite direction.

The indictment against Susa accuses him of "murder by commission" as well as "murder by omission," said Jim Fulton, spokesman for the city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.

Murder by commission means the accused person directly caused the death of another, while murder by omission is brought against someone who knows that a person has potentially life-threatening injuries but fails to seek help for them.