‘ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER’

Well-Known Hawaiian Falsetto Singer, 57, Found Dead in Apartment

A friend last heard from Darren Benitez Tuesday, and a neighbor told police that people were coming and going from his apartment that night.

Darren Benitez, a 57-year-old Hawaiian entertainer well-known for his falsetto voice, was found dead in his Honolulu apartment on Thursday night, KITV reported. A friend last heard from Benitez on Tuesday, and a neighbor told police people were coming and going from his apartment that night before they heard Benitez leave in his car. According to officials, Benitez got into a hit-and-run car accident hours later. The medical examiner has yet to release Benitez’s cause of death. On Friday, the singer was set to perform at an event, the Moonlight Mele, at the Bishop Museum. “It was just heartbreaking... Maui, and then now this, and it’s just one thing after another,” Benitez’s longtime friend, Shannon Scott, told KITV. “Every time I saw him he was always happy.” He said Benitez’s music—which includes songs such as “Mother of the Sea” and features lyrics in English, Spanish, and Hawaiian—“touched so many people.”