Big Isle mother pleads guilty in killing

KAILUA-KONA » A teenage girl who stabbed her 4-month-old son to death at their Kona home last year pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter after allowing herself to be tried as an adult, the Hawaii County Prosecutor's Office announced yesterday.

Julia Aline Lewis, who was 16 at the time she stabbed her child in the neck, will be sentenced Sept. 13 by Big Island Circuit Judge Elizabeth Strance, the announcement said.

"The defendant's mental health issues require her continued supervision at a residential facility," the announcement said. That would be in addition to the sentence to be passed by Strance.

The maximum penalty would be 20 years in jail and a $50,000 fine. However, the parties have agreed that Lewis might serve up to a year in jail and up to 10 years on probation, the announcement said.

Lewis used a kitchen knife like a steak knife to kill her son Sebastian Kossak-Lewis Oct. 12, authorities said. Lewis was living with her mother at the time. The child's father was identified as Rafe Kossak, 19, of California.

The Prosecutor's Office said factors such as treatment for the teenage mother, reports of mental health professionals and the safety of the community were taken into account in reaching a proposal sentence to be considered by Judge Strance.