Local Marine Dies After Fall from Hotel Room

A Rancho Palos Verdes teen stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii died this weekend after falling a reported 17 stories from a hotel room in Waikiki.

Luke Monahan, 19, died Saturday morning when he fell from a window at the llima Hotel. The circumstances of his death are still being questioned by Monahan's parents.

"I want answers and I want to talk to the two Marines that were in the room with him," his mother, Eileen told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "I want to know if anyone gave him a drink because he was underage. I want to know if there was a fight or if there was a broken fence and he fell through it. He wouldn't just
jump."

Paramedics responded to a 7:58 a.m. call at the hotel Saturday and took Monahan to Queens Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 12:22 p.m., according to the Star-Advertiser.

Monahan was on a four-day pass for Memorial Day weekend with two fellow Marines. He trained at Camp Pendleton before shipping out to Hawaii, but had not
yet seen combat.

Monahan's father, Terry, told the Star-Advertiser he got the news during a call from a woman at the hotel on Saturday.

"She told me he fell eight stories," Terry Monahan told the newspaper. "My heart just dropped. How does someone fall eight stories?"

Hospital officials later told the Monahans their son fell 17 stories and hit an air conditioning unit, the Star-Advertiser reported.

Honolulu police said Monahan and his buddies were seen nightclubbing the night before he died. Before leaving that evening, he had talked with his parents via Skype, they told the newspaper.

"I said 'Luke, remember you're only 19,'" his mother, Eileen, said. "'Don't drink, don't do anything bad.'"

City News Service contributed to this report.