HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man facing charges related to a fatal stabbing in March 2022 does not want to go to trial.
On Tuesday morning, in the Superior Court of Guam, Tano Reselap appeared before Judge Maria Cenzon for a pretrial conference.
Although Reselap is scheduled to go to trial on Feb. 7 for a murder charge stemming from the death of Tai Kenson in Maite in March 2022, Reselap’s attorney, Samuel Teker, requested more time to negotiate a resolution.
“We’re negotiating. … We might need more time, and we’re asking the court to move the trial date. … We definitely don’t want to go to trial in this matter,” Teker said during his update for Cenzon.
The prosecutor present at the hearing, Christine Tenorio, concurred with Teker, adding that her colleague and the assigned prosecutor for Reselap’s case, Sean Brown, had spoken with Teker about resolving the case without going to trial.
Cenzon, following the updates from the attorneys, decided to vacate the trial date and will issue new trial dates to give parties more time to negotiate a plea.
Stabbing
Reselap was indicted on murder charges in connection to the death of Kenson in March 2022 after Reselap and Kenson were drinking alcohol at Kenson’s Maite residence.
Before Kenson’s death, court documents state Kenson and Reselap were drinking alcohol heavily and a fight broke out. During the fight, Reselap grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Kenson before fleeing the scene, court documents state.
The Guam Police Department responded to the reported disturbance and found Kenson unconscious in a pool of blood, with cuts to his shoulder and serious injuries to his head.
Reselap was located by officers later, and he allegedly admitted to police that he had fought, headbutted and stabbed Kenson, but denied causing serious head injuries to the victim.
Tano Reselap, 18, appears in the Superior Court of Guam via Zoom from the Guam Department of Corrections facility for an arraignment hearing in this undated file photo.
