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Vegas killings
shock friends,
neighbors

Carrie Pattison-Adric, 32, five
months pregnant, and her grandparents
were gunned down Saturday

---

By Janine Tully
Star-Bulletin

Carrie Pattison-Adric was "like an angel without wings." She had light brown hair that flowed down to her waist, and a laugh that was contagious.

"She was always there with a hug for someone. It was hard to be sad around her. There was always something good that happened in Carrie's eyes. She was a happy-go-lucky girl, beautiful inside and out."

That's the way Tammy Escorzon described her childhood friend, who was five months pregnant when she and her grandparents -- Yoshio "Jack" Kato, 82, and Sally Kato, 75 -- were gunned down Saturday night in Las Vegas.

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Kinuyo and Harry Miya of Pearlridge expressed disbelief when
they learned of the murders of former neighbors Yoshio
and Sally Kato in Las Vegas.

Her brother, Dante Pattison, 21, was arraigned yesterday for the crime. Police said he will undergo a mental examination and that they are confering with prosecutors about seeking the death penalty for the killings.

The shootings occurred at about 10:45 p.m. after an argument between Dante and Carrie in their grandparents' home at 1516 Valley Crest St., northwest of downtown Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police are not sure what prompted Dante Pattison to shoot his 32-year-old sister and grandparents. Pattison has not given a statement, they said.

Escorzon still finds it hard to believe that an argument could have led Pattison-Adric's younger brother to such violence.

'Every moment is so precious'

"Carrie practically raised him," said Escorzon. "We had to baby-sit him when we were in high school because Carrie's mom worked. She loved him as much as she loved her own children."

Carrie's husband, Hanalei Adric, has been acting strong for the couple's two children, who are 14 and 10 years old, Escorzon said. "But they all go in and out (of grief)."

"She (Carrie) gave whatever she had to me and the kids," Adric said yesterday morning. "Every moment is so precious. You don't know it until it's gone."

Pattison-Adric was visiting her grandparents, who had moved to Las Vegas three years ago. Her mother, Rae Pattison, also lives there.

Escorzon is helping the family with the funeral arrangements. She distributed fliers in Haleiwa, where Pattison-Adric lived with her family, soliciting help from the community.

"The community has shown a lot of concern for the family. A lot of people are in disbelief," she said. "Haleiwa Elementary and Foodland in Pupukea have called offering their help."

Yoshio and Sally Kato will be buried in Las Vegas, where their daughters live, said Escorzon. One of the daughters, Grace, was in the house at the time of the shooting. She ran out of the house to seek help.

"If she hadn't, she'd also be dead," said neighbor William LaFontaine, 75, who lives two houses down. "She banged at my door screaming and hollering: "My niece has just been shot, and blood is coming out of her neck. I don't know if she's dead or alive."

'It's really sad ... pitiful'

She called police from his house.

"There were at least 12 or 14 police cars, sirens, a SWAT team, guns -- it was like something you see in the news or a magazine. In all the years I've lived here, I've never, never seen anything like it."

LaFontaine described the neighborhood as "pretty upscale," with well-tended lawns and large single-family homes. "We've never had any problem. Everybody keeps up their garden."

LaFontaine said he saw people move out appliances and furniture from the house early this week, which makes him think no one close to the family will be staying there.

"It's really sad what has happened. It's pitiful, with the young woman being five months pregnant, but that's personal," he said.

In Pearlridge, Kinuyo Miya was speechless for several minutes after hearing of the shootings of her former next-door neighbors. She gasped after hearing the news and hurried to tell her husband, Harry. The Katos were quiet and mostly kept to themselves, said Harry. Yoshio, also known as "Jack" by some, had knee problems and walked with the help of a walker. He loved to tend his garden in the back yard.

"He had so many vegetables, sometimes I couldn't even walk through," said Harry.