ROSEMARIE BERNARDO / RBERNARDO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kahealani Indreginal's mother, Lehua Tumbaga, arrived after 20-year-old Christopher Clayburn Aki was arraigned this morning for second-degree murder in District Court.
Killing suspect shows
no emotion in court
Christopher Aki is officially accused
of killing Kahealani IndreginalChristopher Clayburn Aki showed no emotion this morning when he appeared in District Court to be notified officially that he is responsible for the killing of his girlfriend's half-sister, 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal. The prosecutor says he asked for sentencing
Aiea Elementary struggles to deal with grief, fear
that would allow a life term without parole
By Nelson Daranciang and Rosemarie Bernardo
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com | rbernardo@starbulletin.comAfter Aki's court appearance, city prosecutor Peter Carlisle said his office added a request for enhanced sentencing in seeking the murder charge against Aki.
The enhanced sentencing would allow for a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Without it, Aki, if convicted of second-degree murder, may receive a life sentence with possibility of parole, Carlisle said.
The enhanced sentencing is allowed under a state statute for crimes that are "especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity," Carlisle said.
ROSEMARIE BERNARDO / RBERNARDO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Christopher Clayburn Aki appeared before District Court Judge Russel Nagata at District Court this morning. At right is deputy public defender Mits Murakawa.
The 20-year-old Kalihi man was arrested Friday night after Kahealani's body was found near an Aiea trail. He confessed to killing her and was charged last night with second-degree murder. His bail was set at $5 million.
"He accepted full responsibility for what happened," Lt. Bill Kato, of the Honolulu Police Department's Homicide Detail, said yesterday.
The Medical Examiner's Office said this morning that Kahealani died of injures to her head and neck but declined to provide more information.
Aki's girlfriend, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga, and other family members rushed into the court building this morning, hoping to question Aki or to at least see him. But they arrived too late for the brief court proceeding that lasted only a matter of minutes.
"I just feel so hurt that he did it to me. It's not like him to do this," Mamala-Tumbaga said after she missed him in court.
"He goes to church. He's nice and he took care of (Kahealani.) I don't know how he did this and I don't know why. I have a lot of questions to ask him."
Cheyenne Letisi, a cousin, who observed the court proceedings, said she thought Aki showed no remorse.
"He had no feeling; he showed no remorse. That's the sad thing about it," Letisi said.
Aki was taken to Oahu Community Correctional Center after his initial court appearance this morning. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for the preliminary hearing.
Mamala-Tumbaga said she and her mother and other family members confronted Aki several times after witnesses reported that he was with Kahealani on the day she disappeared. But each time, Aki denied any involvement in her disappearance.
Indreginal was found in a wooded area off Aiea Loop Trail. Police said she was fully clothed in a fetal position when she was located by photographer and hiker Kenny Williams.
Aki and Mamala-Tumbaga have dated since intermediate school and were to be married. They have an 11-month-old son, Ezra.
"It was just shocking to me," said Mamala-Tumbaga of Aki's alleged involvement in her sister's death.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kahealani Indreginal's sister, Tanya, held her baby, Ezra, at a memorial for the slain 11-year-old girl along the fence of the Puuwai Momi Housing complex.
"How could he do this to his family?" she asked. "He was considered family to us, everybody. I just wouldn't expect this from him."
Two other men arrested in connection with Indreginal's death were released yesterday without charges.
"There were no other parties involved in this," Kato said.
Police arrested Aki at about 8:40 p.m. Friday. Early Saturday, police arrested a 31-year-old homeless man at Blaisdell Park in Pearl City and later that day arrested an 18-year-old man they described as an acquaintance of Aki. "Originally, he (Aki) told us the motive was strictly a robbery among the three individuals," Kato said.
After he was re-interviewed by detectives Saturday night, "he mentioned that his first story was false and that those two, the other individuals, the 18-year-old and the 31-year-old, had nothing to do with it," Kato said.
"The robbery was still a part of it but not the main thrust like he said the first time," Kato said. Police said yesterday that Indreginal was not sexually assaulted and appeared to have fought back. Police would not release other details. Indreginal's gold Hawaiian bracelets, birthday presents from her parents, are missing.
Indreginal disappeared from the Puuwai Momi Housing complex Tuesday afternoon. After a frantic and futile search that night, her family called police Wednesday morning.
During the public appeal by family and friends for Indreginal's safe return, Aki was captured by news media cameras playing with her brothers and supporting his girlfriend.
Yesterday, Mamala-Tumbaga placed a row of plastic white butterflies in front of a makeshift memorial fronting Puuwai Momi Housing along Kamehameha Highway near Salt Lake Boulevard.
"The butterflies found Kahea," said Mamala-Tumbaga, referring to the hiker who followed a swarm of butterflies to her sister's body.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
A memorial for slain 11-year-old girl Kahealani Ingreginal was set up yesterday at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Salt Lake Boulevard along the fence of the Puuwai Momi Housing complex. Tiara Cacatian, Kahealani's cousin, added a decoration to the Christmas tree at the memorial.
Indreginal's parents added the Christmas tree they bought for her Tuesday night to the memorial. Vincent Indreginal and Lehua Tumbaga returned home with the tree around 10 p.m. only to find that their daughter was missing. By yesterday afternoon the tree was decorated with a garland, several ornaments and an angel with Indreginal's name written on the wings.
A neighbor, Mahelani Stanley, brought her children to place a handmade ornament on the tree and to leave a teddy bear. "I feel for her, that's why," Stanley said. "I got kids of my own."
Stanley's nephew, Keaka Kuehu, is Kahealani's cousin and a classmate at Aiea Elementary. He wrote notes on a poster with a marker that someone left at the memorial. "She was a good girl," he wrote. "We miss you."
Someone else wrote a poem that is taped to the fence next to the tree. The note begins:
"You were always an angel.
"Now you have wings.
"The brightest angel of them all."
Along with the butterflies, Mamala-Tumbaga added flowers, a pink garland, a ceramic angel and a large red-and-white stocking to the makeshift memorial.
Before Mamala-Tumbaga found out Williams had located her sister, she said she felt a presence around noon Friday while she was resting in her Kalihi home.
"I felt someone lay on the bed. ... I opened my eyes and I didn't see nobody," she said.
Mamala-Tumbaga said she then felt something touch her left arm. At that time, "I knew already that she was gone. I knew already that she had left us," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I just cried even more."
Since Aki's arrest, Mamala-Tumbaga said she feels "caught in the middle of everything."
"We've been through so much together. Now he just made it all disappear."
Star-Bulletin reporter Craig Gima contributed to this report.
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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Aiea Elementary School held an assembly today before the start of classes to talk about the murder of student Kahealani Indreginal. Student Kelly Carr was comforted by her mom, Misty St.John, during the assembly.
Yellow ribbons still fluttered on the fence outside Aiea Elementary School this morning, while inside students and staff struggled to cope with the grim reality that 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal would never be coming back. Aiea Elementary struggles
to deal with grief, fear
By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com"For myself, it's hard to come to grips with (her death,)" said her 6th-grade teacher Suzanne Naval. "It must be so tough for the kids."
Crystal Tagudin brought a large white teddy bear with roses crocheted by her grandma to school, and gently placed them near a lei-draped photograph of her friend, Kahealani, who was killed and left on an Aiea hiking trail.
She picked up a green marker and wrote "God Bless" in careful lettering, the first entry on a "writing wall" set up by the school to allow the children to express their emotion. "We grew up together," Crystal said, her eyes red from crying. "She will always be in my heart."
Crystal's mother, Abigail, gave her a long hug and promised to pick her up after school.
"She's still trying to understand why," said Abigail Tagudin. "That's the hardest part, she doesn't know why."
Indreginal, a straight-A sixth-grader at the school, disappeared Tuesday after returning to her home at the Puuwai Momi Housing complex. After an exhaustive three-day search, a hiker found her body off the Aiea Loop Trail on Friday. Last night, police charged 20-year-old Christopher Aki with second-degree murder in Indreginal's death.
Students and staff had prayed for her safe return on Friday and pinned yellow ribbons of hope on the school fence. This morning Principal Art Kaneshiro had to help his students and teachers cope with fact that she would not return.
"If you want to cry, that's OK," he told the students during this morning's assembly.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Classmates of Kahealani Indreginal held a tearful gathering behind the Aiea Elementary School sign Friday, the day her body was found.
"If you want to remember the fun times with her and laugh, that's OK. It's OK to feel anyway that you want to.
"When we lose somebody as nice and as close to us as Kahealani was, all those emotions are OK."
Kaneshiro reassured the students that police are investigating the case and "whoever did this crime will be brought to justice."
The students recited the school's three rules: take care of yourself, take care of others, and take care of this place.
"Especially today, do the first two," Kaneshiro said.
After the assembly, teachers and students returned to their classrooms and many plan to create projects to remember Kahealani and to send love to her family.
In Kahealani's classroom, Naval sat down on the floor with her students and encouraged them to remember their classmate's life and not focused on the details reported in the news about her death.
"Let's not think about all the awful things but think that Kahealani is finally at rest and she's watching over us."
Naval told the students that she attended the candlelight vigil last night and met with Kahelani's mother and "she seems to be at peace knowing her daughter is at a better place."
Kaneshiro said the teachers will ask for ideas from the students about how to help Indreginal's family, and he expects many classes to make cards or posters to express their sympathy and feelings.
Counselors from neighboring schools were on campus to assist students, teachers and staff who need support dealing with their grief, Kaneshiro said.
"The goal is to try to address the emotions of the day and see how that goes and try to get back to a normal schedule so we can give the children the security and comfort they need at this time," he said.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Student Crystal Tagudin was comforted by her mom, Abigail Tagudin, this morning as they awaited the start of Aiea Elementary's special assembly. Crystal brought a bear and flowers in memory of Kahealani. The girls had grown up together, living in the same housing complex, Puuwai Momi.
After today's classes, teachers and staff will assess how the day went, identify any students who may need additional help and come up with a plan for tomorrow.
"We're going to do this day by day," he said.
Cynthia White, executive director of Outreach for Grieving Youth Alliance, said children grieve differently from adults.
She said they tend to express their sorrow through behavior rather than talking about it, so crafts and reading books together are good ways to deal with grief.
"Children can help each other," she said. "Children can support each other."
White said the most important thing for parents to do is to listen and to refrain from telling children how they should feel.
She said there may be behavior changes like trouble sleeping, and children may become more fearful or protective of each other. Those symptoms are normal and should eventually go away, she said.
As for Indreginal's family, she said they will have to go through the grieving process, and that will take time.
"The family needs support in remembering the child, not focusing on the death, but on the life itself."
Craig Gima contributed to this report.
