The aunt and uncle of a Makiki girl who nearly starved to death in 2007 testified yesterday about their efforts to help the child.

Dennis and Illana Wright spoke in the trial of Melvin Wright Jr. and his wife Denise, charged with attempted murder of their 12-year-old daughter Indigo.

The child weighed only 29 pounds — some 50 pounds below average — when her parents finally summoned emergency medical help for her on Jan. 7, 2007.

Illana Wright, who is married to Melvin Wright's brother Dennis, said they first met Indigo when she was 6 years old and they took her on a family outing to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

When Indigo's grandmother, who was here visiting from South Carolina, returned from taking the child to the bathroom, she reported that Indigo was still wearing diapers, Illana Wright testified.

"She seemed like a healthy normal child other than the fact that she was still in diapers," she testified.

Illana Wright and her husband moved to the Mainland but returned in 2006 and began trying to make contact with Denise and Melvin Wright, she said.

The grandparents of Indigo were concerned about her and wanted a picture of their granddaughter, she said.

After repeatedly visiting Indigo's apartment on Kina'u Street and leaving notes on the door, she said, they finally found Denise Wright at home, but she wouldn't let them in the apartment and said Indigo wasn't there, Illana Wright testified.

Denise later invited them to the apartment to meet Indigo, in May 2006.

The girl "seemed tiny" and looked like "she needed to eat," said her aunt.

"She was so frail," said Illana Wright.

"I asked her how she was doing and she said she was 9 years old," the witness said.

Denise Wright said Indigo "doesn't like to eat" and added that she hadn't been to a doctor because the parents didn't have medical insurance, Illana Wright testified.

"I told her that in Hawai'i all kids have medical insurance" and offered to get the necessary paperwork for Indigo's coverage, said the aunt.

She then obtained the insurance forms and called Denise, but Denise assured her that Melvin Wright was taking care of matter.

She said she invited the Wrights to her house for Thanksgiving dinner but that Denise Wright turned down the invitation.

Illana Wright said she and her husband were very concerned about the welfare of the girl and talked about reporting their worries to the Child Protective Services office.

"We struggled with it," she said, adding that they decided not to because they didn't see Indigo after that May visit and received text messages from Denise that the situation was improving.

Denise Wright "seemed like she wanted to do good," her sister-in-law testified.

Denise and Melvin Wright Jr. called paramedics on Jan. 7, 2007, and the first to arrive at the Kina'u apartment, Theresa McGregor, also took the witness stand yesterday.

Indigo was lying across a bed and "appeared very emaciated," McGregor said.

The child looked like someone who "is terminally ill from cancer or some sort of illness," said the paramedic. "I have never seen a child in a state like that."

Indigo was "completely unresponsive" and her eyes were open but were "rolled back" in her head, said McGregor.

When McGregor and two other paramedics questioned the Wrights about their child's condition, they got "very minimal answers," she said.

Melvin Wright said "she just won't eat" and explained that Indigo didn't go to school because she was "home-schooled," said McGregor.

Indigo survived but suffered brain damage because of malnourishment and is now living with her grandparents in South Carolina, according to prosecutors.