Parents of murder suspect call for changes in processing mentally ill detainees

By Jeremy Lee

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    KAPOLEI, Hawaii (KITV) — The parents of Michael Armstrong are calling on elected officials to address systemic failures, exposed after their son was released from the Kapolei Police substation on February 15th.

Armstrong, who has a history of mental illness, had only been in a halfway house for 6 nights before he missed the 6pm curfew. It led to a fight with a staff member who called police.

Tony and Nicholette Armstrong want to know what happened after that, and why red flags were not raised by HPD regarding Michael Armstrong’s mental health history.

HPD has not responded to KITV’s inquiries asking to clarify MH-1 protocols in regards to an emergency psyche evaluation.

The Prosecuting Attorney’s office declined to charge Armstrong after the February 15th incident, though he struck a police officer. Armstrong was instead released the evening outside the Kapolei police station. He then allegedly beat a houseless woman, Linda Johnson, who had been displaced herself two days before.

“My son hit a cop. He should have been in jail until they figured out how to charge him. But no they released him. To where? Who did they release him to?” Nicholette Armstrong told KITV 4.

Michael Armstrong is scheduled to appear in court on March 21. He is being charged with second degree murder.

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