Man sentenced to life in prison for Hilo murder

HILO, Hawai‘i — A 44-year-old Hilo man will spend life in prison — with the possibility of parole — for stabbing a woman to death in her Hilo apartment on Halloween in 2020.

Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto imposed the sentence Tuesday on Davi Franklin Alvarez Sr., who pleaded no contest to second-degree murder on Oct. 19, 2023, for the death of 39-year-old Noelle Buffett.

Buffett was found dead with a single stab wound in the chest in her unit at the Hilo Val Hala apartment complex on Pu‘ueo Street.

Alvarez and his girlfriend were staying at Buffett’s apartment, but she kicked the couple out days before the stabbing occurred.

A woman who had gone to the apartment with Alvarez and another man on the night of the incident heard a commotion in Buffett’s bedroom, where the slaying took place. The woman summoned her father to the apartment. They called the police, who found Buffett’s lifeless body on the bedroom floor.

In return for Alvarez’s plea, prosecutors dropped other pending charges against him and agreed to not pursue an extended term of imprisonment, which would’ve been a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

The possibility of an extended sentence came into play because prosecutors indicted Alvarez as a persistent offender, noting previous convictions for second-degree assault, felony domestic abuse, first-degree terroristic threatening and second-degree escape, all Class C felonies, between 2002 and 2015.

Stanton Oshiro, Alvarez’s court-appointed defense counsel, told the judge his client was requesting a waiver of any restitution payments or fees “inasmuch as he is in custody and has …” — whereupon Alvarez interjected “for the rest of my natural life” — before Oshiro concluded “no ability to pay that restitution.”

“The state would object to any kind of waiver of fees,” Deputy Prosecutor Jefferson Malate told Nakamoto.

Oshiro said Alvarez “is accepting of responsibility.”

“He regrets what happened, wishes he could do it all over, but he can’t,” Oshiro said.

Alvarez addressed the court in a subdued, barely audible voice.

“You can take my freedom from me, but you cannot take my dignity or the love I get for my family and friends,” he said.

Alvarez said he takes “full responsibility … but I don’t have any money to pay any restitutions.”

According to Alvarez, it took him 10 years to pay restitution for a previous conviction.

“I’m barely surviving. I can’t afford it,” he said.

Nakamoto called the life sentence “appropriate considering the nature of the circumstances of this offense” and “to protect the public from further crimes.” The judge added that he looked at Alvarez’s “long history of violence and substance abuse.”

“With actions, there’s consequences,” Nakamoto said. “It’s sad all around. To me, this is a senseless killing. … And nothing presented to the court would show any mitigating circumstances for what happened.”

Nakamoto also ordered Alvarez to pay restitution and fees totaling $1,481.52.

“This was for Noelle and her ‘ohana,” Hawai‘i County Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen said in a statement after the sentencing. “Although we know that it will not fill the immense void of their loss, we hope that this sentencing offers them some sense of closure.

“(Tuesday’s) sentencing sends a clear message that Hawai‘i County law enforcement is committed to working hard to hold violent offenders accountable to protect our community.”