honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, October 16, 2009

Two children among those remembered in Big Island domestic violence vigil


By John Burnett
Hawaii Tribune-Herald

HILO — Javieanne Win, Iyanla Kuamoo-Andrews, Hans Christian "Chris" Randrup and Maris Santos Wilkerson are among the victims who will be remembered today at the 21st Annual Domestic Violence Family Peace Walk and Vigil.

Participants will gather at 4:15 p.m. at the Kamehameha Statue on Hilo's Bayfront. The walk to Mooheau Park Bandstand starts at 4:30 p.m.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the event is part of that observance, as is the "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" event tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. from the downtown Hilo YWCA to the bandstand.
"Our theme this year is 'Change begins with a thought,' " said Haunani Joaquin, program supervisor for Alternatives to Violence, a part of the nonprofit organization Child and Family Service. "People sometimes turn their backs when they see or hear something because they don't want to get involved or they think it's not their business. This is your community ... and what goes on in your community is your business."
The program at Mooheau Park Bandstand starts at 5 p.m. Joe Bloom, founder of the Men's March Against Violence, is the keynote speaker. In addition to music, food and refreshments, a candle-lighting ceremony will honor the memories of those who died as a result of incidents reported as domestic violence.
Five-year-old Win, a Chiefess Kapioliani Elementary School first-grader known to neighbors as "Pretty Girl," was allegedly beaten, raped and drowned Sept. 5 in a Puueo Street apartment in the Wainaku neighborhood of Hilo. Her mother's boyfriend, Anthony Serges Poulin, 30, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in her death. A judge has ordered a psychological evaluation to determine Poulin's fitness to stand trial.
Kuamoo-Andrews, 2, died April 29 at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu, five days after fire rescue personnel found her unconscious outside her Wainaku home. An autopsy found she died due to blunt force head trauma. Her father, Henry Kuamoo, 34, was arrested on suspicion of abuse of a family/household member, but has not been charged.
The bullet-riddled body of Randrup, 27, a noted bodyboarder, was found at the bottom of a cliff at MacKenzie State Park in lower Puna last Dec. 12. Randrup's father, Randal K. "Randy" Randrup, 61, claims his son was beating him and that he shot him in self-defense. In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He's expected to be sentenced Oct. 27 in Hilo Circuit Court to two years in prison, with credit for time served. The plea deal shocked those who knew Chris Randrup.
Wilkerson, 45, a former Big Islander who lived in Upper Marlboro, Md., was found July 7 in a rural area near her home, 12 days after she went missing. Her boyfriend, Aaron D. Spriggs, 33, is accused of her fatal shooting.
Others to be remembered include Victoria Agres, Pat Ahuna, Daysha Aiona Aka, Gaylon Baldado, Laurie Cabarloc, Rachelle DeCambra, Phyllis Dedrick, unborn child Matthew Erece-Saniatan, Kelsie Fathke, Sarah Marie Fay, Daniel Fox, Gloria Gorospe, Pua Lei Santa-Isabel, John McDonald, Jennifer Jean Malvey, Yvonne Martins Mathison, Cameron Mauga, Cathalene Ann Pacheco, Carla Russell, John M. Scott, Casey Ann Swain, Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan and Victoria Vickers.
"We encourage those who can't make the walk to attend the vigil," Joaquin said.