Mountain View Murder Suspect Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Life in Prison

A Mountain View man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, May 20 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder last month.

Twenty-seven-year-old Dwayne Cory Wallace Jr. pleaded guilty on March 16 for shooting and killing 26-year-old Peter C. Grammer, also of Mountain View, in August 2020. On Thursday, he was sentenced in Hilo 3rd Circuit Court to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Along with second-degree murder, Wallace also pleaded guilty to ownership prohibited of a firearm. Judge Peter Kubota ordered Wallace to serve a five-year prison term for revocation of his felony probation, where he was previously convicted of felony abuse of a family or household member.

Wallace will not be eligible for parole until serving a mandatory minimum term of 15 years imprisonment.

“Peter Grammer would have been 27 years old today, the same age as the Defendant,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Rothfus stated Thursday. “With the pull of a trigger, Dwayne Wallace ended Peter’s life. He robbed Peter’s mother of her son, in broad daylight, right before her eyes, and leaving her with terrifying memories of her only son’s last moments.”

The shooting occurred on Aug. 25, 2020, just before 1 p.m. Hawai‘i Police Department’s Puna patrol officers responded to a call on N. Kulani Road in Mountain View for a report of a male, later identified as Grammer, who had just been shot and was lying in the roadway.

Wallace was immediately identified as a suspect, police said, and was arrested a few days later on Aug. 28, 2020.

According to HPD, Wallace was located at a property on Auli’i Street in the Orchidland Subdivision in Puna. Upon officers arriving on the property, Wallace fled his vehicle and ran into the forest, according to police. After a short search, Wallace emerged from the forest and surrendered to the police. At the time of arrest, Wallace was in possession of a loaded shotgun.

“The state prays that today’s sentencing affords the family and friends of Peter Grammer some closure and hopefully a little sense that justice was served and that Peter will never be forgotten,” said Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen. “Hawai‘i County law enforcement will continue its ongoing efforts to hold violent offenders accountable for their actions with the goal of deterring future crime and making our community a safer place.”