The body of 37-year-old Sione Mangisi, a Tongan who was allegedly killed after visiting a home where his ex-wife and children lived in Davis County, Utah, United States arrived at LAX Airport in California this afternoon.
Mangisi died after a fight broke out between him and his ex-wife’s husband Heneli Kaufusi, 35 who was also Tongan.
Today friends and family members of Mangisi, who were devastated and in disbelief, welcomed their loved one.
“I just watched the videos of all your brothers sending you back home from SLC and all your brothers waiting for you to land in LAX. I shed a tear because I understand how much the Tongan community loss when The Lord requested your return. It is obvious how much you meant to your family & friends but most importantly how much they meant to you. You touched a lot people Toko” wrote Bigg Seff on Sione Mangisi’s Facebook page.
The motive for the alleged killing was still unknown but police investigators believed Mangisi was visiting from California to see his children on October 14, who lived at the Bountiful home with their mother and Kaufusi before his death.
According to a jail record reported by US media, during the fight between the two men, Kaufusi briefly walked away from Mangisi, then “took out a cellphone and appeared to take a picture of the victim”.
Kaufusi, who has been charged with first-degree felony for the death of Mangisi, allegedly left and walked back to Mangisi and began to stomp on him again while standing over him and screaming, report said.
“By this time, Mangisi had reportedly made his way to the front lawn. Kaufusi allegedly walked over to Mangisi a third time, picked him up and threw him toward the roadway. Mangisi ended up in the gutter”.
Police said the beating resulted in the death of Sione Mangisi and he died before he could be airlifted to a hospital.
A post on Facebook said this about Mangisi’s funeral service: “The funeral service will be Saturday at McCormick Funeral Home at 635 S Prairie Ave, Inglewood, CA 90301. The doors will be open from 7am – 10am to see Sione before the service. Funeral will begin at 10am – 1pm. Burial immediately after at the same location”.
It also said visiting the deceased will begin this Friday at 6:30 pm – 10pm at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 7517 S Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90045.
