HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Tai Kenson lived in an abandoned building along Robat Street in Maite after moving to Guam from Chuuk about seven years ago.
“I just cried this morning. This is where we stay,” said Leo Simion, Kenson’s uncle, who spoke with The Guam Daily Post on Sunday.
Kenson, 33, was found in a pool of blood inside one of the rooms.
“When I came home, I saw him already dead in the blood. I just heard that they stabbed him,” he said. “I’m not sure why.”
Criminal investigators were called to the area after witnesses reported teens getting violent on Friday night.
However, authorities said the area was clear by the time they arrived. Officers returned not long after, early Saturday, to find Kenson on the ground with serious injuries.
Medics tried to save him as he was rushed to U.S. Naval Hospital Guam.
But he didn’t survive.
A teenage boy who authorities confirm lived nearby was arrested on suspicion of murder, aggravated assault, assault, use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony, reckless conduct, conspiracy, and underage consumption of alcohol.
The boy is being held at the Department of Youth Affairs.
There’s no word yet if prosecutors will charge him as an adult.
“There was probably alcohol involved,” said MTM Mayor Rudy Paco. “If you look around the area you see nothing but beer cans. There are minors drinking there too.
Paco said he has continuously told police about the area he referred to as a troubled part of his village.
“It’s a slum,” he said.
Crime scene
Simion showed us inside the abandoned building that once was used as a church and a fish market.
Multiple families with children, mostly toddlers, live inside.
The front entrance was padlocked and crime scene tape was placed outside.
A cot with padding was seen inside another room.
“This is where my nephew slept,” Simion said.
A separate room with a locked screen door is where Simion said he last saw Kenson. The door has holes, and you can see spots of blood on the floor when you peak inside.
The weekend was hard for Simion and others who are apparently squatting inside the abandoned structure.
“I cried this morning,” he said. “I was thinking about my nephew. He always helped me to prepare my things like my lunch and other things.”
Simion said authorities told him that they are searching for a second suspect potentially involved in the killing.
A police death investigation is underway, and detectives now wait for an autopsy to be performed on Kenson.
Leo Simion points to the room where his nephew was found stabbed early Saturday morning in Maite, Guam.
