Judge hears from
victim’s daughters
Their tearful statements
By Lori Tighe
persuade him to extend the
killer's sentence
Star-Bulletin"Where's grandma?" asked 6-year-old Dylan Lopes.
"She's in heaven with the angels," said his mother, Lachelle Lopes.
"You know, Mom," Dylan said, "I'm going to buy you a fire truck with a long ladder to bring her home."
Lopes didn't have the heart to tell her son that Stella Jensen was never coming home, she said in court yesterday. Jensen, 39, was killed by Dean Mara in a Nanakuli drive-by shooting on Jan. 15, 1997.
Lopes and her sister, Lisa, 26, gave emotional statements to the Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario yesterday to extend the manslaughter sentence of Mara, and 32-year-old Mara broke down into tears.
Del Rosario agreed to grant the extended life term to Mara based on his history, character and threat to the public.
"The extended term is designed for dealing with more difficult criminals," Del Rosario said. "It is clear to the court Mr. Mara's own actions, ripping off drugs and money, set in motion events that led to the shooting."
The judge also extended Mara's other convictions for reckless endangering from five years to 10, and for a firearms violation from 10 years to 20 years.
Mara will go before the Hawaii Paroling Authority for a minimum sentence within a month. The state plans to seek a 40-year minimum term.
"It's the tail end of a real tragedy," said Deputy Prosecutor Barry Kemp. "I'm satisfied we've taken a dangerous person off the streets."
The state originally argued for a murder charge, but a jury convicted Mara of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Mara, out on parole for a sexual assault conviction, had stolen $6,000 in cash and $4,000 worth of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," from a drug dealer he met in prison. The dealer put the word out on the streets that he was out to get Mara, said deputy public defender William Jameson.
Mara heard the dealer was looking for him in Nanakuli. So Mara decided to hit first, Kemp said.
Mara spotted the dealer at Yuen Grocery on Farrington Highway and asked his friend driving to make a U-turn so he could speak with the man.
Jensen had stopped at the grocery store to make a phone call and was getting into the car driven by the dealer, who was a friend, when she was struck by a bullet in the head.
Mara thought the dealer was reaching for a gun and shot in self-defense, the defense argued. But Mara had told investigators he never saw a gun in the dealer's hand, Kemp said.
Lisa Lopes told the judge she tried to commit suicide after her mother's death and has been on tranquilizers since.
"I remember falling on the ground after I heard she was killed, thinking this is all a bad dream," Lopes said.
"I hate holidays now. It never feels the same."
"She was both my mom and my dad. She was who we had left," Lachelle Lopes said. "Dean Mara took away a mother, sister, grandma, a best friend and daughter. The type of hurt I feel I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy."
As Lisa and Lachelle Lopes wiped their eyes outside the courtroom, they hugged Mara's parents and Mara's teen-age son, who told them they were sorry.
Then the sisters huddled in a group hug with their three cousins and said a prayer of thanks.
"I thank the judge for his compassion he had for us," Lisa Lopes said. "He's given us peace of mind for the first time since my mother was shot."
