A 59-year-old Hilo woman accused of starving her 9-year-old granddaughter to death last year removed the girl from a Hilo elementary school for home schooling eight months prior to the child’s demise.
A 59-year-old Hilo woman accused of starving her 9-year-old granddaughter to death last year removed the girl from a Hilo elementary school for home schooling eight months prior to the child’s demise.
The state Department of Education confirmed Tuesday that Henrietta Stone, the legal guardian of Shaelynn Lehano-Stone, pulled the girl out of Hilo Union School in November 2015. The girl, described in a police statement as “severely malnourished,” died June 28, 2016, at Hilo Medical Center, just hours after police and emergency medical personnel were called to Stone’s Kinoole Street apartment, almost directly across the street from the Hilo Central Fire Station.
Stone pleaded not guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in connection with the child’s death. She was ordered by Acting Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto to appear for trial at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 13.
Also charged with second-degree murder in the case are 33-year-old Tiffany Stone, Henrietta Stone’s daughter and Shaelynn Lehano-Stone’s mother, and 50-year-old Kevin Lehano, the girl’s father.
Stanton Oshiro, Henrietta Stone’s court-appointed attorney, asked the judge to grant his client supervised release, despite a recommendation against releasing her without bail in what Oshiro called “a purported bail study.”
“It basically recommended that bail be maintained. And the sole basis of that is the severity of the charges,” Oshiro said. “My client has no record of any kind that would disqualify her or even impact, quite frankly, the court’s decision in regard to supervised release. … Thus far, she is pending trial. She is presumed innocent.”
Deputy Prosecutor Haaheo Kahoohalahala requested that Nakamoto maintain Henrietta Stone’s bail, citing “the seriousness of the offenses in the indictment.”
Nakamoto maintained Henrietta Stone’s bail at $100,000 and ordered her, if she is released, to obtain a mental health assessment and to have no unsupervised contact with minors.
Shaelynn Lehano-Stone’s history with Child Welfare Services began before her first birthday, according to court documents. A February 2007 affidavit said she and at least one sibling, a brother, were taken temporarily away from Lehano and Tiffany Stone.
It’s unclear why Henrietta Stone chose to home-school the child. It also appears none of the defendants have any training or background in teaching, but that is irrelevant, according to the DOE website.
“A parent teaching his/her child at home shall be deemed a qualified instructor regardless of educational background or training,” the website states.
Once a child is home-schooled, the only responsibility the parent or guardian has to the DOE is a yearly report “showing satisfactory progress in all content areas,” DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said in an email.
“The DOE has no authority to monitor a child’s home schooling program, and no authority to conduct home visits to oversee how the child is being educated,” Dela Cruz said.
Tiffany Stone was also ordered by Nakamoto to appear for trial at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 13., while Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura ordered Lehano to appear for trial at 9 a.m. Dec. 4.
All three remain in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.