Stabbed boy, 14, accuses dad via 911 call

Police release tapes of conversations with the victim and suspect

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Big Island police have released the 911 recording of Monday's fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy, who made the initial call to emergency officials with his dying breath.

The boy reported that his father, 38-year-old suspect Tyrone Vesperas, stabbed him in the neck.

Police said the boy, Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan, was stabbed while restraining his father from pursuing his mother, who was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen.

The pregnant mother's unborn child did not survive the attack. Vesperas has been charged with second-degree murder as well as attempted first- and second-degree murder.

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In his final, desperate breaths, 14-year-old Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan called 911 Monday to report the attack leading to his death.

"My dad stabbed me in my neck," the boy said, crying, coughing and gasping for his life.

EXCERPTS FROM THE 911 CALL Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan's call to the emergency operator: Vesperas-Saniatan: "My dad stabbed me in my neck. ... Please call police. Please come." The exchange between the 911 operator and suspect Tyrone Vesperas: Operator: "Who is this?" Vesperas: "The dad." Operator: "Where's your son?" Vesperas: "He's on the floor, lying down." Operator: "OK, let me talk to your son." Vesperas: "Uh, hold on." Operator: "He hung up on me." ... Operator: "I need you to get down on the floor and tell me if he's breathing." Vesperas: "I don't think he's breathing." ... Operator: "How bad is he bleeding?" Vesperas: "Real bad."

The boy even had enough strength to guide emergency personnel on the best way to get to their home in the Ainaloa subdivision.

"Where is your dad now?" asked the emergency operator. The boy screamed his final words, "I don't know, just please come."

Seconds later, there is a loud bang, and the boy's gasping and moaning sounded distant. For several minutes, the operator called for the boy repeatedly.

"Tyran ... Tyran," the operator said before silence fell. "I don't hear him breathing anymore."

Big Island police released the 911 emergency tapes yesterday, revealing the teenager's final moments, as well as the calm voice of the alleged murderer and father, 38-year-old Tyrone Vesperas.

Vesperas was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon.

He is accused of stabbing his son in the neck, as well as his pregnant estranged wife, Cheryl-Lyn Saniatan, whose unborn child did not survive the attack.

Police responded to the call at 11:30 a.m., and found Tyrone Vesperas in his garage and his son dead in the house.

An investigation revealed that the couple had an argument that turned physical, resulting in the wife being stabbed in the stomach multiple times.

The boy tried to restrain his father, enabling his mother to escape. During the struggle, the father allegedly stabbed his son in the left side of the neck with a military-type knife, cutting his jugular vein.

The wife was found parked on the side of Highway 11 within six miles of Keaau, police said.

Shortly after Tyran left the phone, emergency operators called back, and the father answered and said he had hung up the phone.

"Where's your son?" the operator asked. "He's on the floor lying down," the father replied in a calm voice. He later said his son was no longer breathing.

The operator told the father to position his son to help him breathe, to which the father replied, "I'll just wait until they come, because I cannot walk. ... My leg is broken, I think."

Tyrone Vesperas was also found stabbed in the leg, police said. The operator asked what happened, before the father hung up again.

Vesperas is being held at the Hilo cellblock without bail, pending his arraignment. He is a full-time technician and staff sergeant for the Hawaii Army National Guard.

He served with the 29th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq from February 2005 to January 2006.