Woman Faces Charges In Robbery, Fatal Shooting
HONOLULU — An attorney for a young woman accused of taking part in a robbery and kidnapping that ended with a man being gunned down on a Kaneohe street last year said the only thing his client is guilty of is bad judgment.
Rihanna Joy Valentino, 22, appeared in Honolulu District Court Monday morning. Police charged her with kidnapping and robbery. She is being held on $1 million bail.
The crime she is connected to is one of the most shocking in recent years.
In May 2007, Benjamin Grajeda, 27, was beaten and kidnapped from his home and thrown into the trunk of a car, police said. Grajeda managed get out of the but was then shot 16 times on Kaneohe Bay Drive while trying to escape.
Jerrico Lindsey has been charged with the crime and is awaiting trial.
“There’s no question the guy who gets whacked and the guy who does shooting are very bad people. They are very, very dangerous people,” defense attorney Michael Green said.
Green is representing Valentino and said he wonders why it took police so long to arrest her.
“If they can’t charge her in the first three or four months I can promise you that they don’t have any more evidence today or Friday when they charged her then they had eight months ago,” Green said.
Valentino conspired to rob Grejada with Lindsey and another man arrested in the case, according to court documents.
“The person charged with murder, and the person who was supposed to be the accomplice, if they’re talking, the only thing they could be saying about her is to try and help themselves,” Green said.
Green claimed the violence was triggered by a love triangle.
“The original shooter seemed to be dating her and he was jealous of the fact she was seeing someone else,” Green said.
The city prosecutor’s office had no comment.