shave ice & gelato

Three very tragic and disturbing murders have taken place in the past two weeks.

Two weeks ago, a husband stabbed his wife to death several feet from the front door of her apartment in Kalihi. Jenny Hartsock leaves behind three children from a former marriage. Roy Hartsock has had 27 convictions dating back to August 1987, including assault, domestic violence, and burglary. Whatever happened to 3 strikes and you are out?

Last Wednesday, a man rammed into his ex-girlfriend’s car several times and then dragged her out of the car and proceeded to bludgeon her to death with the butt of a shot gun on a quiet street in Kailua in front of several horrified witnesses. One brave man attempted to help. He was sent to the hospital with head injuries.

Janel Tupuola leaves behind five chidren. She was trying to turn her life around and leave this horrible man. She had feared for her life long before she was killed. She was recently in hiding. He somehow found out where the babysitter lived and followed her last Wednesday night when she went to pick up her children.

This man, Alapeti Tunoa, has a long criminal history. He was arrested 67 times as a juvenile. He was also convicted for many violent crimes as an adult, including first- and second-degree robbery, and threatening to snap a man's neck for a gold chain, while riding the City Bus. He was currently on supervised parole after serving four years of a 20-year sentence.

Again, whatever happened to 3 strikes and you are out?

The following day, the third murder occurred. This murder has been the most disturbing, although they are all equally horrific and tragic. This murder involved a little child. A man tossed a little boy up into the air and onto the freeway while standing on a pedestrian overpass in the middle of the day. He then stood there and smoked a cigarette. Witnesses at first thought he threw a doll onto the freeway.

Cyrus Belt would have turned two on February 7th.

At first, it was thought that this man was the child’s father. He turned out to be the upstairs neighbor.

Cyrus was left with the mother’s boyfriend and her father on the day of the murder. Earlier in the day, Cyrus was found by the police wandering around the area. The boyfriend was working on his car and apparantly was not watching Cyrus and the grandfather was sleeping. The police returned Cyrus to his home. The boyfriend later left to pick up Cyrus’ mother. He did not wake the grandfather.

As more information has come out, it has been revealed that CPS (Child Protective Services) had been involved with this family. Cyrus spent four days in a foster home in June of last year after his mother failed a drug test. She volunteered to have Cyrus taken into foster care and then promised to seek treatment. She recently again tested positive for using crystal meth. CPS had a visit scheduled for later that day. It was too late.

Matthew Higa, the person who murdered Cyrus, had 12 prior arrests, but no convictions. He has a history of crystal meth use. He had been admitted to Queen’s Hopital as recently as December, 2007, after an incident at a Honolulu car dealership in which he locked himself in a car and refused to get out until officers were called to the scene. There are also questions about his mental health status. Although blood test results have not come back yet, it is has been reported that Matthew Higa was using crystal meth when he murdered little Cyrus. In my opinion, none of this excuses his actions.

There were many witnesses to both Cyrus and Janel's deaths. Both Matthew Higa and Alapeti Tunoa were arraigned in court yesterday. Both plead not guilty. This was very disturbing to me. I understand everyone has a right to a trial, but these men should have owned up to their actions and at the very least, pleaded guilty.

Changes need to occur now to prevent any more of these tragic and senseless murders.

It has been a difficult and emotional time for many. I have been brought to tears the two times I have driven under the pedestrian overpass where little Cyrus Belt was murdered. Please take a moment to remember Jenny, Janel, and Cyrus.