Defendant in shooting at Santa Rosa’s Whiskey Tip bar recalls night victim shot him 3 years earlier

A Santa Rosa man accused of killing another man in 2021 at a Roseland bar told a Sonoma County jury Tuesday how he’d been shot by that man three years earlier.

On trial in the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Kenneth McDaniel at the Whiskey Tip bar, Ednie Afamasaga testified on his own behalf during his ongoing trial.

He and his co-defendant, Santa Rosa resident Fogatia Fuiava, 31, were arrested days after McDaniel’s death and are each charged with murder and conspiracy. Their trial began Feb. 20 and both testified this week.

The defense has referenced the 2018 incident as a key component to the 2021 killing. It wasn’t until Tuesday when specific details were presented to jurors to help explain why Afamasaga and Fuiava were worried about McDaniel.

Afamasaga, 29, testified he was a bouncer at Remy’s Bar & Grill in Santa Rosa in 2018 when he tried to break up a fight in the parking lot.

McDaniel, who had just left Remy’s, was involved in the fight and opened fire. Afamasaga said he was hit twice in his right leg above the knee and his leg went numb.

“I crawled for safety between two cars,” Afamasaga testified.

A customer took him to a hospital, where he remained for about two weeks.

Attorneys didn’t say whether McDaniel was arrested in connection with the shooting, but Afamasaga testified he didn’t know McDaniel and didn’t go out of his way to find him.

He told jurors that after being shot himself, he felt compelled to buy a gun for his own safety.

Afamasaga said he didn’t see McDaniel again until Sept. 25, 2021, the night of the Whiskey Tip shooting.

He echoed Fuiava’s earlier testimony that McDaniel’s presence was alarming and they considered leaving after they and their family had gathered for a rap performance.

Afamasaga said he and Fuiava, instead, approached McDaniel, who “laughed” at their requests to keep things civil. He said McDaniel told them, “’Get your (expletive) outside,’” Afamasaga said.

This, Afamasaga added, increased their concerns that McDaniel posed a threat.

Not long after that, Afamasaga and Fuiava opened fire in the parking lot and McDaniel was dead.

Earlier Tuesday, when pressed by Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Matthew Hobson during cross-examination, Fuiava testified that he fired up to 20 rounds.

Fuiava said he suspected McDaniel was armed, and Hobson challenged that notion.

“You shot 20 bullets on a hunch?” Hobson asked Fuiava.

He replied, “I believed they had a gun. I don’t know the definition of a ‘hunch.’”

Hobson has expressed skepticism over whether McDaniel was armed and whether he had even noticed the defendants at the Whiskey Tip, which closed in November 2023.

Testimony in Afamasaga and Fuiava’s trial is expected to resume Thursday.

Prosecutors rested their case Monday afternoon and all witnesses moving forward are being called by the defense.

Outside of Afamasaga and Fuiava, the only other defense witness to testify Tuesday was Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Andres Fernandez.

In another attempt to discredit McDaniel, the defense questioned Fernandez about an arrest that took place July 2, 2021, on Highway 29.

Fernandez told jurors he pulled over McDaniel because the light over his license plate wasn’t working. He said after he approached McDaniel he noticed a bag of marijuana on his front passenger seat and smelled alcohol.

The deputy said he searched the vehicle and found a handgun, more alcohol and marijuana and cocaine. Evening temperatures were in the 60s and McDaniel appeared shaky and sweaty.

“I attempted to speak to him but he wanted his attorney present,” Fernandez said.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi