Parents sue teen
who allegedly killed
their 6-year-old daughter
HILO >> The parents of a 6-year-old girl killed two years ago have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the teenage boy charged with her death and his parents.
The body of Kau'ilani Lucas-Tadeo was found Sept. 27, 2001, in a vacant house in the Big Island's rural Hawaiian Beaches subdivision. Police said she was killed by a blow to the head from a blunt instrument.
Two days later, Mark "Sparky" Davis Jr., then 14, was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree sexual assault. Davis lived near the Tadeos in the Puna district south of Hilo.
Davis has yet to be tried and remains in custody at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility on Oahu. A closed hearing was held in Family Court in August 2002 to decide whether the boy would be tried as an adult, but the matter remains unresolved.
In the lawsuit filed Monday in state Circuit Court in Hilo, plaintiffs George and Tumata Tadeo allege that the boy's parents, Mark and Ellen Davis, are liable for their son's actions and were negligent and reckless in supervising him. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
The Davises have yet to be served with the lawsuit. "We don't know where they are," said Joy San Buenaventura, the plaintiffs' attorney. "We think they are on the mainland."
Deputy Public Defender Anthony Bartholomew, the attorney for Davis Jr., could not be reached for comment.
