Aki’s minimum term
is set at 19 years

The news that Christopher Aki will have to serve 19 out of 20 years in prison before he can seek parole did not bring much consolation to the family of 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal.

"That's the best we could ask for," said the slain girl's father, Vincent. A conviction of manslaughter just was not enough, he said.

Yesterday, the Hawaii Paroling Authority set Aki's minimum term at 19 years before he is eligible for parole.

A jury convicted Aki in May of manslaughter for his role in the death of Kahealani, the younger half sister of his then-girlfriend, Tanya Mamala Tumbaga. The girl's body was found Dec. 13, 2002, at Keaiwa Heiau State Park in Aiea -- three days after she disappeared from the Halawa housing complex where she lived.

Aki intends to appeal the conviction, so Indreginal's family is still left in limbo, unable to pick up and move forward, the girl's father said. "It still won't end."

Not until Aki tells the entire truth will they ever begin to heal, he has said earlier.

Indreginal said he feels the parole board's decision shows the board shares his belief that when Aki appeared before a Hawaii Paroling Authority hearing on Nov. 9, he continued his lie by failing to take full responsibility for the girl's death.

Indreginal disappeared Dec. 10, 2002, from the Halawa housing complex where she lived.

Aki, after repeatedly denying any role in her disappearance and death, later confessed to police that he had struck her numerous times in the head and left her to die at the Aiea park.

At trial however, he accused the girl's uncle of killing her. Aki admitted to taking her to the park to confront the uncle about allegations Aki said the girl made about the uncle touching her inappropriately.

Todd Eddins, Aki's attorney, said the parole board's explanation did not surprise him, but that the jury's verdict and the factual circumstances of the case suggest that the minimum term set by the parole board was unwarranted.

Aki has spent nearly two years in prison already, so he has another 17 years to go and will likely be out by the time he is 39 years old, Eddins said.

Even if the parole board decides not to release him after he has served the 19 years, they cannot hold him in longer than 20 years, the maximum for manslaughter.