Luimariamofoa Polu sentenced for 2018 murder of 15-Year-Old

• News Home
• More from News of the North

Friday, May 26, 2023 at 10:37 PM

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Messenger
• Share on Messenger
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Whatsapp

Anchorage, Alaska (KINY) - Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson sentenced 21-year-old Luimariamofoa Polu to serve 27 years in jail for the murder of 15-year-old Raynaldo Khotesouvan on July 20, 2018, in Anchorage. Polu, who was 16-years-old at the time of the murder, was charged as an adult for the crime pursuant to Alaska Statute 47.12.030. Polu previously admitted the facts contained in the charging document.

The agreement between the State and Polu called for the court to impose a sentence of 60 years with 33 years suspended, to be followed by 10 years of supervised felony probation. In deciding to accept the parties’ agreement, Judge Peterson began noting reviewed community condemnation of the crime, the need to isolate Polu, Polu’s prospects for rehabilitation, and general and specific deterrence. Judge Peterson recognized that there is nothing that the court can do, or any sentence that can be imposed, that will bring back Mr. Khotesouvan and make his family and the community whole. He hopes this sentence recognizes that the community condemns violent behavior such as that engaged in by Polu that resulted in Mr. Khotesouvan’s death. The court recognized Polu’s youth when committed the crime and has high hopes for his prospects for rehabilitation based on his commitment to education while in custody. Polu has been in custody since July 21, 2018, and will remain in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

This case was prosecuted by Anchorage Assistant District Attorney Patrick J. McKay, Jr. The Anchorage Police Department’s Homicide Unit investigated the matter.

More from News of the North

• Juneau Symphony closes their 60th season with epic 'Showdowns'

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Juneau Symphony's theme for their 60th season was 'Epic' - and their final performance for the season went above and beyond.

• Dozens evacuated from small cruise ship in Alaska after engine room fire

  Juneau, Alaska (AP) — A fire in the engine room of a small cruise ship in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve prompted the evacuation of dozens of passengers and crew on Monday. No injuries were reported, and the fire was extinguished, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

• United Fishermen of Alaska announces support for Senator Lisa Murkowski’s Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Late last week, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Angus King (I-Maine) introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at supporting rural fishing communities.

• Here’s what passed and what didn’t in Alaska’s legislative session

  Juneau, Alaska (Alaska Beacon) - Thirty-one bills passed House and Senate this year, the third fewest of any first-year session since statehood

• New Riverview Senior Living Community in Juneau Now Open

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The new Riverview Senior Living community in Juneau, Alaska, is now open for residency.

• Learn the basics of running for local office at free workshop on June 24

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Have you ever thought about running for local office? This October, Juneau voters will elect three Assembly members and two School Board members—and one of them could be you.

• Coast Guard, partner agencies responding to vessel fire in Glacier Bay, Alaska

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The Coast Guard is responding to a reported fire aboard the on the 178-foot passenger vessel Wilderness Discoverer in Glacier Bay, National Park, Alaska.

• Multiple deaths reported on vessel

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - On May 31, at about 2:23 p.m., a 34-year-old female reported to JPD that she found her friend, 51-year-old Curtis Edwin Anderson, deceased on the vessel Dusky Rock.

• Coast Guard to conduct pollution response exercise in the Bering Strait

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) — The Coast Guard is scheduled to conduct a pollution response exercise in the Bering Strait June 7, 2023

• Sealaska contributes to renovation of ANB/ANS Halls in Angoon and Hoonah

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Sealaska recently made two significant donations to support the renovation of the Alaska Native Brotherhood/Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANB/ANS) halls in Angoon and Hoonah.

• Yakutat youth participate in marine debris cleanup

  Yakutat, Alaska (Alaska Beacon) - They’re part of a federally funded project managed by the city and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe

• 'We are warriors' Cancer Connection celebrates National Cancer Survivors Day

  Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Cancer survivors and people with loved cancer survivors walked from Marine Park to Bill Overstreet Park in a celebration of life, an event Cancer Connection holds every year.