Suspect in girl’s HILO >> Dressed in a knit shirt and knee-length shorts, the slim, curly-haired 14-year-old boy charged with murdering a 6-year-old Big Island girl last week heard charges against him yesterday in Hilo Family Court.
death goes before
family judge
The 14-year-old boy has
been charged with second degree
murder and 2 counts
of sexual assaultBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comThe results of the initial appearance, equivalent to an arraignment in adult court, were not disclosed. Family Court proceedings are secret.
That left open the question of whether the boy will be tried as an adult on charges of second-degree murder and two counts of sexual assault in the death of first-grader Kauilani Tadeo of Hawaiian Beaches.The girl, found Thursday night in a vacant house near her home, died of blunt trauma to the head, police said.
The teenager is being held in the Adler Street detention home in Honolulu when not in court in Hilo.
Prosecutor Jay Kimura declined to say whether his office is seeking to place the case in adult court. But if his office took that position, it is likely that the Family Court would have the boy examined by a psychologist to determine if he is mentally capable of handling an adult trial, Kimura said.
Some of the boy's neighbors in Hawaiian Beaches suggested the question is appropriate.
Two neighbors, who asked not to be identified, noted that the boy was a special-education student at Pahoa High and Intermediate School.
They described the boy's family, who moved to the area about two years ago, as not fitting in with the community of the small subdivision south of Hilo.
Star-Bulletin efforts to reach the boy's family were unsuccessful.