Friends and family of a former Encinitas resident are planning to install memorial benches in his honor after the news that he was killed on Maui over the weekend.
Michael Colby, 39, was found dead March 18 near Ka‘a Point, just west of Kanaha Beach.
On Friday, a 16-year-old boy was arrested in the case. The following day, Maui police arrested Healohaomakanaamekai Akahi Pua, 24. Pua faces charges of second-degree murder and is being held on $1 million bail.
Colby’s friends raised money to hold memorial tributes to Colby in Maui and Encinitas, where he lived five years ago before moving to Hawaii.
The artist had an Etsy profile that described his artwork as plain air, water color landscapes and life drawing.
So his friends and family are working to install benches in his name in Maui and at Orpheus Park in Encinitas.
The Maui bench dedication event will be on August 17. A date for an Encinitas ceremony was still to be determined.
