Kahuku mother arrested in death of 11-year-old girl
A 39-year-old woman who works as a behavioral health specialist and senior class adviser at Kahuku High and Intermediate School was arrested on campus Friday and charged with manslaughter for allegedly torturing and neglecting her 11-year-old adopted daughter who died in December 2023.
The victim, Azaeliyah Pili-Ah You, had 'multiple injuries from child abuse, ' and the manner of her death was homicide, Lt. Deena Thoemmes, head of the Honolulu Police Department's Strategic Enforcement and Homicide Detail, told reporters Friday at a news conference.
Pili-Ah You had extensive bruising 'deep enough to penetrate skin ' and reaching her diaphragm, Thoemmes said. The child also had multiple abrasions to her face, head, neck, chest, back, arms, hands and legs.
The girl had wounds consistent with being bitten, internal injuries to her neck 'likely from strangulation, ' two broken ribs and a scalp hemorrhage, and her left lung was dark, indicative of pneumonia, Thoemmes said. Pili-Ah You's body tested positive for COVID-19, pneumonia and the flu, according to HPD.
The child's adoptive mother, Sina Pili, was indicted Friday by an Oahu grand jury and charged with manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a minor and persistent nonsupport, according to state court documents.
Pili-Ah You was adopted by Pili and her husband two months before she died. Thoemmes said the girl's adoptive father has not been arrested, but remains under investigation.
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'Child torture is insidious. It is gradual, calculated and systematic, and intended to break its victims completely, ' said Thoemmes, who urged state lawmakers to pass pending legislation, Senate Bill 281, allowing law enforcement more power to intervene, investigate and arrest people who abuse children.
Child abuse and death investigations take longer than murder investigations, Thoemmes explained, because officers have to go over medical records, autopsy reports and school records ; interview family members ; and gather additional evidence.
On the day Pili-Ah You died, the suspect 'slapped and punched ' the child multiple times over a period of 30 minutes, police said. On Dec. 22, 2023, patrol officers responded to a 911 call of an unresponsive 11-year-old girl at a home in Laie.
The girl had been sick and held out of school but was in class the day before she died.
Despite the victim suffering from a fever and uncontrolled urination, Pili allegedly forced the girl to exercise by running back and forth from the family home to a chapel, police said.
Pili-Ah You's adoptive father told police he found her in the shower, unresponsive, after hearing a thud. Arriving officers saw him giving the girl 'lifesaving care ' in the hallway of the home outside the bathroom before firefighters took her into the living room to try and revive her.
She was taken to Kahuku Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
Pili-Ah You's death was initially classified as an unattended death. Homicide detectives, noticing the bruising, brought in HPD's child abuse detail. Pili and her husband told police they had no idea how the girl was injured and suggested it could be a result of playing sports.
According to the indictment, Pili 'recklessly ' caused her adopted daughter's death. Manslaughter is a Class A felony punishable by 20 years in prison without the possibility of suspension of sentence or probation.
Pili was arrested at about 1 :45 p.m. Friday at Kahuku High and Intermediate School and will remain in police custody until she appears for arraignment Thursday in Oahu Circuit Court.
Four other children in Pili and her husband's care, ages 12, 9, 8, 7, have been placed in protective custody by state Child Welfare Services.
Pili earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Brigham Young University of Hawaii in Laie and a master's in social work from the University of Hawaii, where she is pursuing a doctorate from the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, according to a profile on the Department of Sociology web page.
'In her free time, (Pili ) is centered on everything family related, from attending her children's sporting events, church activities altogether, or just being in the company of loved ones, ' reads her profile.
This was the second time this week that charges were filed in a child's death on Oahu. On Feb. 27—Janae Perez, 25, and her girlfriend, Ashleigh Utley, 33—in connection with the June starvation death of 3-year-old Sarai Perez-Rivera in Kapolei.
Perez, who is the girl's mother, and Utley were indicted Tuesday for second-degree murder, first-degree assault, hindering prosecution and two counts of kidnapping.
'Our keiki are precious and vulnerable. We all have a responsibility to care for our keiki, who are the future of Hawaii, ' said Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm. 'If you see keiki in need of help or look like they have been assaulted, please call the Child Abuse Reporting Line.'
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Julia Kaneshiro is handling the Pili-Ah You case.—Report abuse—Child abuse and /or neglect : 808-832-5300 (Oahu ) or toll-free 888-380-3088 (Hawaii island, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai ). Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.—Child trafficking : 808-832-1999 (Oahu ) or toll-free 888-398-1188 (Hawaii island, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai ). Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Do admitted in his plea agreement that in exchange for more than $550,000 in bribes, he cast votes on the Board of Supervisors beginning in 2020 that directed more than $10 million in COVID relief funds to the Viet America Society, where his daughter Rhiannon worked, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. When Do pleaded guilty in October, Selna told him he could face a stiffer sentence, but then it could be appealed. But Do waived all of his appeals and cannot withdraw the plea if the sentence does not exceed the five years. From 2021 to 2023, Do funneled more than $10 million in county contracts to VAS, prosecutors said. The money was part of a food-delivery program during the pandemic as well as a $1 million grant for a Vietnam War Memorial in Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, prosecutors said. Rhiannon worked for VAS and will be able to take advantage of a diversion program as part of her father's plea deal. Rhiannon Do was paid $8,000 monthly between September 2021 and February 2024, for a total of $224,000, prosecutors said. In July 2023, $381,500 from VAS was put in escrow so Rhiannon Do could buy a $1.035 million house in Tustin, prosecutors said. Do's other daughter received $100,000 in October 2022, prosecutors said. Do used $14,849 of the money to pay property tax for two properties in Orange County that he owned with his wife, Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham, prosecutors said. Do used another $15,000 to pay off credit card debt, prosecutors said. Do's 'bribery scheme with VAS was not only corrupt, it also turned out to be a fraud on the county as VAS was not providing the meals to elderly and disabled residents as it had promised,' prosecutors said. VAS 'only spent about 15% ($1.4 million) on providing meals,' they added. Prosecutors slammed Do for making online videos praising VAS and its owner as a 'selfless community hero.' Meanwhile, later Monday, a new co-defendant in the case — 61-year-old Thanh Huong Nguyen of Santa Ana — is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and concealment of money laundering. Nguyen was named in an indictment Wednesday that was unsealed Friday. Nguyen operated the Hand to Hand Relief Organization. Do's friend and associate Peter Anh Pham, 65, of Garden Grove, who ran VAS, was also indicted on single counts each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud bribery and six counts each of wire fraud and concealment of money laundering. But Pham's whereabouts are unknown and federal prosecutors say he is considered a fugitive. Probation officials recommended 48 months in prison for Do, but prosecutors said Do should get the five years because he 'literally sold out his most defenseless constituents for his own personal gain during a global medical emergency when they needed him for their very survival.' Prosecutors also faulted Do for choosing 'to involve his family in his crime, broadening the conspiracy and exposing them to prosecution. This was not only deceptive, it was strategic. It was not a spur-of-the-moment lapse of judgment, but a sustained effort to evade scrutiny through manipulation of personal relationships and familial trust.' Do's other daughter lost her job and Rhiannon Do 'faces consequences to her potential career as an attorney,' prosecutors said. Prosecutors also knocked Do for settling a Fair Political Practices Commission Complaint in 2017 for helping a political donor in pursuit of a government contract. Do's attorneys argued that he 'received no actual payment to himself — all significant funds were provided to his daughter Rhiannon Do,' and that he was 'willfully blinded to the violations by the desire to see benefit to his adult daughter, and his belief that his daughter was providing worthwhile services to those who provided the benefits to her.' Do, however, 'now recognizes how completely wrong he was in this catastrophic self-delusion,' his attorneys said. 'He has watched the complete destruction of his career, reputation, his life and that of his family,' his attorneys said. 'He apologized to his family, his community and former colleagues and to this court. In short, Andrew Do's life has been destroyed by his own acts.' He agreed to resign his post as supervisor, had his state bar license suspended, stopped working and volunteers his time to benefit the community, his attorneys said. Do also agrees that restitution should be between $550,000 and $730,500 and that the sale of the home in Tustin will go toward that, his attorneys said. Do's attorneys highlighted his service as a public defender and prosecutor as well as an elected official. His 'implicit agreement' to 'reward' Do for the contracts for VAS was not a 'quid-pro-quo' conspiracy, his attorneys argued. The corruption was limited to the dealings with VAS, his lawyers emphasized. 'All of this is important because it underscores that what we are dealing with here is a blind spot involving his daughters, and no way a pattern of corruption,' his attorneys said. Do's attorneys also recounted his history growing up and ultimately escaping war-torn Vietnam. Do said in a letter to Selna that he was born in Saigon during the Vietnam War and arrived in the United States when he was 12 years old and settled into a refugee camp in Alabama where his parents worked in a cotton mill. He said he and his siblings worked odd jobs in the neighborhood and 'learned to cope with the anti-immigrant and racist atmosphere that some, but not all, in the community expressed.'' His family moved to Garden Grove in 1976, where '11 of us shared a two-bedroom apartment,' he wrote. Do wrote in his letter, 'I am guilty. I am ashamed, and I fully admit the wrongs that I have done. I only ask that you look at the larger picture in evaluating my acts.' He added, 'In retrospect, I can't believe that I did not see the evil of allowing this nonprofit (whose money came from the county) to assist my daughter in purchasing a home. I was blinded by a father's seeing his daughter as being worth every penny of what they paid her. 'My daughter did, indeed, work hard for the nonprofit, and I am proud of the work she did. However, it is clear that I simply did not want to see the payments for what they were (a bribe) and now my bad judgment has derailed all that I had sought to achieve before I left public office.'
