COEUR d'ALENE - Luke Anana-Kuewa, 18, was raised in Hawaii and was a good swimmer. But he was found dead in 3 feet of water about 9 feet from the shore of icy Mill Pond on Spirit Lake the morning of March 25, 2012.

His job application to become a lifeguard at Silverwood Theme Park was found at a nearby fire pit.

On Thursday, Magistrate Robert Burton bound Post Falls resident Dylan P. Paschall over to 1st District Court in Kootenai County to face trial for second-degree murder for Anana-Kuewa's death.

Burton said the case was a "tragedy at a lot of levels," and said the death was "needless, and should not have ever happened."

The boyish looking Paschall, who was 20 when he was arrested and charged in March, appeared in court in chains and orange jail duds.

It's a very difficult case, the judge said, in that Anana-Kuewa drowned but there's no evidence anyone held him under water or prevented him from coming safely to shore.

Paschall is accused of punching Anana-Kuewa multiple times while in or near the freezing water on the night of March 24, 2012.

Paschall and three friends that night had been drinking rum and smoking pot by a fire pit in a spot known as Bubba's Pit, and Anana-Kuewa wandered into the wooded spot later and joined them.

According to testimony at Paschall's day-long preliminary hearing Thursday in a courtroom at the Kootenai County jail, Anana-Kuewa was yelling and acting erratically after drinking the alcohol and smoking pot. He then went into the water.

In multiple interviews with a Kootenai County Sheriff's Office detective, Paschall said he went into the frigid water multiple times to get Anana-Kuewa and bring him back to shore.

The detective, Darrell Oyler, testified during the hearing that Paschall punched Anana-Kuewa under peer pressure to shut him up, and stop his "bizarre" and "weird" behavior. Oyler said Paschall also was frustrated because Anana-Kuewa kept going back into the freezing cold water.

Dr. John Howard, a forensic pathologist for Spokane County who performed Anana-Kuewa's autopsy, testified that he drowned.

Howard said cuts, scrapes and swelling to Anana-Kuewa's face were consistent with being punched, but weren't life-threatening injuries. He also found injuries to his neck, hands, wrists and legs.

Oyler, who investigated the incident scene and conducted interviews with witnesses in the case, said Paschall and the friends left the Mill Pond area and could still hear Anana-Kuewa yelling. Some testimony indicated he was yelling for help.

Paschall and the others left him there soaking wet, cold, beaten up, intoxicated and 360 yards from the closest house, Oyler testified.

Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor David Robins told the court that Paschall punched the vulnerable Anana-Kuewa and put his hand over his mouth. Robins said two other friends there also either punched or choked him. Then they walked away and didn't call for help.

"Those are circumstances that would likely create death," Robins said. Otherwise, "He would have woken up with a hangover, not been found dead in 3 feet of water 9 feet from the shore."

Oyler also testified that Paschall told him in interviews that he was barely able to walk out of the wooded area that night himself because his legs were so cold from getting into the water.

"If he barely made it out, how did he expect Luke to do so?" Robins said.

Public defender Brad Chapman argued the evidence from the autopsy shows there was no choking, and none of the injuries from the alleged punches were life threatening. The cuts on Anana-Kuewa's face could have been caused by slipping and falling, as footing was poor because of the winter weather.

Authorities arriving at the scene the next day had trouble walking on the trails and near the shoreline, Oyler said.

Chapman said Paschall was the only one to pull Anana-Kuewa out of the water, and he did it multiple times. And he was alive when Paschall left, he argued.

"What behavior, judge, did Dylan engage in that caused Luke's death?" Chapman said. "Is it murder, judge, not to go back?"

With the case moving up to 1st District Court, Judge Fred Gibler has been assigned the case. Paschall is being held at the Kootenai County jail.