A 59-year-old homeless woman police say burned to death Jan. 2 in a large banyan tree on Banyan Drive in Hilo was, in better times, an award-winning coffee farmer.
Police identified the victim as Deborah Ann Cohn-Hoomalu of Hilo.
Cohn-Hoomalu was at one time known as Debbie Cohn-Hoshide and was the owner of Hoshide Farms in Honaunau. Coffee from the seven-acre farm won the 2008 Gevalia Kona Coffee Cupping Competition.
She dedicated her win in the prestigious annual cupping contest “in honor of my mother and father who are no longer with us.” The judge said her winning coffee “possessed the quintessential Kona floral fragrance … which made it stand out from the others.”
Suzanne Shriner, president of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association, confirmed Wednesday that Cohn-Hoomalu was once a member of the association, and added that the farm, which still exists, now has mainland owners.
Cohn-Hoomalu’s LinkedIn page said she owned the farm from 1995 to 2010. It also said she attended the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Her Facebook page, which lists about 4,500 friends, said she originally was from Manhattan Beach, California. It lists her marital-relationship status as “separated.”
Hawaii Police Department Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Division said Cohn-Hoomalu had been homeless for some time but had been previously married. Court records indicate she and her husband had filed petitions for mutual orders of protection from each other in 2015, alleging domestic abuse.
Neither petition was granted, and there are no indications of a divorce filing.
An autopsy performed last week on Cohn-Hoomalu’s body showed no signs of non-fire-related trauma, police said. The final autopsy results are pending toxicology and additional forensic testing.
Hawaii Fire Department personnel found Cohn-Hoomalu’s charred remains within an opening in the banyan tree after responding to a midday report of the tree — which is across from Reeds Bay Beach Park — being ablaze.
Police were notified and responded to the scene to investigate. Officers canvassed the area and interviewed numerous beachgoers. However, no one reported hearing any type of disturbance prior to witnessing the smoke and flames coming from within the tree.
The investigation, which remains ongoing, is classified as a coroner’s inquest.
Police ask anyone who may have information relative to this case to contact Detective Clarence Davies of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 961-2382 or email at Clarence.Davies@hawaiicounty.gov, or the police department’s nonemergency number at (808) 935-3311.
Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
