Hilo Circuit Judge Peter Kubota on Thursday denied a motion by a murder defendant to dismiss the indictment that charged the 31-year-old Hilo man with fatally strangling his 24-year-old girlfriend in 2019.
The motion to dismiss was filed by Honolulu attorney Keith Shigetomi on behalf of Ekolu Keolanui, who is charged with second-degree murder for the July 19, 2019, death of Sable Marie Keffer-Young.
The motion alleged the state violated Keolanui’s constitutional right to a speedy trial within 180 days of being charged. It sought 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’ve meant the state could not refile the charge.
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 she took her own life. According to police, 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.”
Keolanui wasn’t indicted until Dec. 21, 2022, almost 3 1/2 years later.
Shigetomi said in his motion that Keolanui hadn’t received a copy of the grand jury transcript in his case, despite two formal requests for the document.
Kubota told Shigetomi he found that a court reporter had routed the transcript to the Office of the Public Defender, where Shigetomi once worked, in March 2023.
Shigetomi told the judge he wasn’t Keolanui’s defense counsel at that time, nor had he received the transcript, either while there or from previous defense counsel Bill Heflin, who withdrew from the case for medical reasons on May 29, 2024.
“As a practical matter, I was not in possession of this transcript until Dec. 13,” Shigetomi said, referring to the date of the last prior court hearing in the case.
“If you do a deep search, you’re probably going to find it in the Public Defender’s Office,” Kubota replied, and denied the motion.
Keolanui doesn’t yet have a trial date. Kubota ordered him to return May 14 for “further proceedings.”
Keolanui is in custody both on $1 million bail in this case and also for a 10-year sentence for a previous domestic violence case — in which Keffer-Young was the victim — after his probation was revoked.
His current girlfriend and 4-year-old son were in the courtroom gallery Thursday, as was Sandra Apele-Kipapa, who told the Tribune-Herald she is Keolanui’s aunt by marriage and a “second mom” to him.
Keolanui turned and talked to them while lawyers for both sides were in a bench conference with Kubota.
After the hearing, Apele-Kipapa told the Tribune-Herald that Keolanui confided in her that he’s not guilty of killing Keffer-Young and that the deceased woman was suicidal.
“I believe him. He never lied to me,” Apele-Kipapa said. “So, when he was sharing what happened to me, he said, ‘Aunty, I saved her life three times. She tried to commit suicide, and I saved her life three times. And the fourth, I just couldn’t … .’”
She added, “He doesn’t deserve this, because he’s a good boy.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
