GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Eddie Leoso and Keo Curry left a written message at the Kahealani's memorial along a fence line at the intersection of Salt Lake Boulevard and Kamehameha Highway.
Suspect tells Christopher Clayburn Aki told Honolulu police that after beating 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal with a metal pipe at an Aiea park, he beat her a second time when he discovered that she was not dead, according to a source close to the investigation.
police he beat
girl with pipe
A grand jury indicts Aki for
Friends do not believe suspect acted alone
second-degree murder
in Kahealani's killing
Boyfriend's action shocks Kahealani's sister
By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comAn Oahu grand jury indicted Aki today for second-degree murder. Aki remains in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $5 million bail.
Aki, 20, is reported to have provided details of the attack when questioned Sunday by police.
On Friday night, Aki implicated two other men, who were arrested Saturday. But they were released Sunday without charges after Aki changed his story and "accepted full responsibility for what happened," police said.
Saying that Aki showed "exceptional depravity," prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder for allegedly both causing the death of Indreginal and failing to render aid to her.
According to the source, Aki told police he drove Indreginal to Keaiwa Heiau State Park last Tuesday, and the two sat in his blue Dodge Neon and ate lunch. During the meal, Aki became angry and punched Indreginal, either stunning her or knocking her unconscious, and then took her gold bracelets.
Aki then told police he dragged her out of his car and into a brush area near the parking lot where he beat her with a metal pipe he found in the area, said the source.
Aki allegedly used the sharp end of the pipe to poke Indreginal's body to see if she was still alive, the source said.
According to the source, Aki told police that after beating Indreginal, he went back to his car to wipe his hands of blood. Afterward he returned to where he had left her, found her alive and sitting up and he beat her again with the pipe.
Indreginal died of head and neck wounds, according to the Honolulu Medical Examiner. The police source said the neck wounds were caused by the metal pipe.
Police said on Saturday that robbery was the motive. On Sunday they said robbery was only part of the motive. Aki told police he put the girl's gold bracelets in a bag, then threw them in the trash, the source said. The source also said Aki told police that a few days later, he returned to the park and found Indreginal's body in a different area from where he thought he left her. However, police have not recovered any physical evidence to show that Indreginal was ever at the first location where Aki said he left her, according to the source.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Passers-by continued to leave flowers, notes, candles, candy and Christmas ornaments yesterday at the memorial.
Police said they have recovered neither the murder weapon nor the bracelets. Police have said sexual assault was not a motive for the crime; however, they are awaiting the results of an autopsy.
Star-Bulletin reporter Debra Barayuga contributed to this report.
