A 31-year-old Hilo man accused of the fatal strangling of his 24-year-old girlfriend almost 5 1/2 years ago is seeking dismissal of the indictment that charged him with second-degree murder.
The motion to dismiss, filed by Honolulu attorney Keith Shigetomi on behalf of Ekolu Keolanui, alleges the state has violated Keolanui’s constitutional right to a speedy trial within 180 days of being charged. It seeks dismissal of the charge — which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole upon conviction — with prejudice. If granted, that would mean the state could not refile the charge.
Hilo Circuit Judge Peter Kubota has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 30 to rule on the motion.
A grand jury returned the indictment against Keolanui on Dec. 21, 2022, for the death of Sable Marie Keffer-Young.
Keffer-Young, the daughter of kumu hula Sammye Ku‘ualoha Young, died July 19, 2019, at Malama Park in Panaewa.
Keolanui, who reported Keffer-Young’s death to authorities, told police Keffer-Young took her own life.
“I’m devastated. He took my daughter from me,” Young said Wednesday. “He should have to pay for what he did to her — not just for her, but for all of us who love her.
“I still love her.”
Young has since disbanded her Halau Na Lei Hiwahiwa ‘O Ku‘ualoha, where her daughter served as an alaka‘i and dancer before moving to Halau Hula ‘O Kahikilaulani, the halau where Young earned her ‘uniki — hula’s formal graduation — from the late kumu hula Rae Fonseca before forming her own halau.
“It’s hard. Every day, I wake up with her on my mind. Every day, I go to bed with her on my mind,” Young said. “It’s been a nightmare every day since the day she died.”
Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Division told the Tribune-Herald in 2022 police had “some suspicion of foul play from the beginning.”
“There wasn’t enough evidence initially to reclassify it to a murder,” Amon-Wilkins said at the time.
Amon-Wilkins said the initial autopsy on Keffer-Young’s body revealed “multiple injuries which included evidence of blunt-force trauma and strangulation,” but the initial conclusion about the cause of death was “undetermined.”
According to Amon-Wilkins, the homicide case, which wasn’t made public by the police, was routed to the prosecutor’s office on March 17, 2020.
“There was a delay in getting this to a grand jury,” Amon-Wilkins said. “March of 2020 was … the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so there was an issue of scheduling the grand jury at that point.”
According to Shigetomi’s filing, Keolanui filed a written request for a written grand jury transcript or recording of the grand jury proceedings in his case on Jan. 5, 2023. After not receiving the requested transcript or recording, Keolanui filed a second request on June 4, 2024.
“Defendant is entitled to obtain a copy of the proceedings before the grand jury to effectively prepare for trial,” a supporting memo states. “Defendant timely requested the transcript. After not receiving the grand jury transcript after 17 months, defendant again requested it.
“The grand jury transcript has not been provided to defendant through no fault of defendant.”
The state’s motion in response, filed last month by Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Hashizaki, doesn’t dispute the unavailability of grand jury transcripts is a factor in delaying a trial for Keolanui, but contends “the record shows that approximately six months of the 23-month delay can be attributed to the unavailability of the grand jury transcripts.”
The prosecution said the only times the unavailability of grand jury records were mentioned by the defense in asking for a postponement were on June 4, 2024, when Shigetomi took over Keolanui’s case, and again on Sept. 6, 2024.
Other reasons cited by prosecutors for delays include when the Office of the Public Defender withdrew from the case on March 24, 2023, four delays requested by successor counsel William Heflin for additional discovery and to retain expert witnesses, and when Heflin withdrew for medical reasons on May 29, 2024.
The state’s filing also notes that Keolanui’s parole was revoked for a 10-year prison sentence in connection with a 2017 domestic incident in which he kidnapped and sexually assaulted Keffer-Young. He was convicted in 2020 and is still serving that sentence.
The document also claims that Keolanui hasn’t articulated “any specific effect the delay in the commencement of trial has had on his ability to defend himself.”
Young said she’s not sure what would amount to justice in the case, but she wants Keolanui “to admit that he did it.”
“I want him to take responsibility for his actions. And what that means, I have no idea,” she said. “I just know that my daughter needs her justice, and our family needs peace. It’s been over five years.
“My daughter didn’t deserve this. She was a beautiful person who loved everybody for who they were. She didn’t deserve to be taken from us, and she didn’t deserve the way she died. And most of all, the world was cheated out of a woman that would have done so much for our community.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.