HONOLULU -- A teenager who was 17 when police said he beat a taxi driver to death has been waived to adult court for potential murder charges.

Kilani Derego turned 18 in July, but he was still held in the juvenile detention center until a Family Court judge Friday afternoon agreed he should be tried as an adult. Derego was taken into police custody for booking.

Taxi driver Charlys Tang, 41, died in May after being beaten in a Waipahu parking lot. Witnesses said he picked up two young men in Waikiki on a Saturday. Police said 18-year Michael Robles confessed to participating in the beating after the driver demanded payment. He said Derego, his housemate at a Hale Kipa group home in Manoa, delivered most of the blows.

Derego's family said he was with other friends in central Oahu the night of the beating.

The family and other sources said Derego was in the state foster care system and had lived in several foster homes before moving to Hale Kipa in Manoa.

His family said Hale Kipa gave him an overnight pass the night of the beating.

Prosecutors said police will hold Derego in custody until he is charged, and he has his first court appearance Tuesday morning.