Alanaokala Solomon Covington, a 36-year-old man from Kailua-Kona, vanished into a grim mystery that surfaced only when someone finally spoke up. On Sunday, October 16, 2016, Hawaiʻi Island police received an anonymous tip warning that a killing may have already happened in Kailua-Kona, and investigators began following the thread before it went cold.
That tip led detectives to a secluded stretch off Hawaiʻi Belt Road north of the 27-mile marker, where they discovered what appeared to be a burial site late Tuesday afternoon, October 18. Officers secured the area through the night, and by Wednesday morning, October 19, they recovered Covington’s body from the site. Days later, an autopsy confirmed what the hurried burial had tried to hide: Covington died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
As the investigation moved from the windswept roadside into the neighborhoods of Kona, police identified a suspect and began looking for him. On Saturday, October 22, Kona Patrol officers responded to a report of criminal property damage in progress in the Oʻoma subdivision. There, they located Gafatasi Jorden Kaipo Napoleon of Kailua-Kona, who was also wanted in connection with Covington’s shooting death, and he was arrested and taken to the Kona police cellblock while detectives continued building the case.
By the following night, the case took a formal turn from suspicion to charges. At 9:55 p.m. on Sunday, October 23, police charged Napoleon with second-degree murder in Covington’s death, along with unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, promoting a dangerous drug, and criminal property damage. Bail was set at $271,000, and he remained in custody pending his initial court appearance scheduled for Monday, October 24.
