Motive for Kahealani murder still unclear

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By Walter Wright and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers

More details emerged yesterday on how police believe 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal was murdered, but not much has come to light about a possible motive.

Christopher Clayburn Aki was indicted yesterday on a charge of second-degree murder. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Vincent Indreginal, Kahealani's father, said someone might have been pressuring Aki for money, perhaps to repay a drug debt.

"That's one of the things I kind of was thinking it might be," Indreginal said. "It is something that ran across my mind. I don't know it for a fact, though."

He hastened to add that he did not know if Aki ever used or sold drugs.

Aki, 20, of Kalihi, was indicted yesterday on a charge of second-degree murder. Circuit Judge Dan Kochi kept Aki's bail at $5 million and city prosecutors said they will seek the state's harshest sentence: life in prison without parole.

Aki has been allowed no visitors, except his attorney, who talked with him for about 30 minutes yesterday at O'ahu Community Correctional Center before the grand jury returned the indictment.

Karen Garo, Kahealani's aunt, said family members have assumed drugs were involved.

"We speculated that, but we don't know for sure," she said yesterday. "When we found out about it, that was what we assumed. It would be a normal thing that would be associated with drugs."

Garo's sister, Lori Moreno, isn't so sure.

"I would never have suspected that of him," she said. "When we see him, he seems normal. It's really hard to say."

But even if the family found a motive, that wouldn't explain what Aki is alleged to have done, Moreno said.

"Even if it was drugs, why would someone do that?" she said. "And especially to his own family. I can't even think of such a thing. She is just an innocent child. I am lost for words."

A police source said yesterday that Aki said he punched Kahealani after she slapped him while they were eating in his parked car at an 'Aiea park, then continued beating her outside the car with a metal pipe he found in the parking lot.

The source declined comment on what caused the girl to slap Aki. According to the source, Aki said he then went to wash his hands with water he had in his car, then came back and beat the girl a second time and poked her in the stomach with the pipe.

The girl's body was found Friday near the 'Aiea Loop Trail, about 72 hours after she was last seen at her Pu'uwai Momi housing complex in Makalapa.

The body has been tentatively identified and the Army's Central Identification Laboratory-Hawai'i is assisting the Honolulu medical examiner in making a positive identification by looking at dental records.

Police received information Friday identifying Aki as a suspect.

According to a police affidavit filed at District Court, a witness saw Kahealani walking toward Aki's blue Dodge Neon and then leaving the complex in his car about 3 p.m. Dec. 10. The two apparently stopped to pick up food at a fast-food restaurant before going to the park.

Aki has been placed on suicide watch at OCCC, and will likely be placed in protective custody as he awaits trial, officials said.

"With this type of crime, when it involves a minor, there is always a concern about an unwritten rule among inmates that you do not kill a minor," OCCC warden Clayton Frank said.

Aki's court-appointed attorney, deputy public defender Todd Eddins, said Aki was "depressed" when he met with him for half an hour yesterday, but appeared to be "stable, in a sound mental state" and said the suicide watch may be just precautionary.

Eddins said the crime of which his client is accused "by all accounts seems entirely out of character" for Aki, who appears to be "a loving father who regularly attended church at the Red Hill First Assembly of God."

Eddins said Aki has no record of any convictions. Two years ago he was arrested because he was a passenger in a car that was reported stolen, and may also have been with another person who was accused of illegally carrying a firearm, Eddins said.

"But the fact that he was arrested two years ago and has not been charged speaks for itself," Eddins said.

Eddins said he is concerned about the publicity the case has received, and its possible impact on prospective jurors.

Advertiser staff writer Rod Ohira contributed to this report.