HILO — Peter Kema Sr. will change his not-guilty plea today in the death of his son.
The 46-year-old Kema is charged with second-degree murder for the 1997 killing of his then-6-year-old son, Peter Kema Jr., also known as “Peter Boy,” and was set to go on trial April 25. Kema Sr. is scheduled to enter a plea change at 1 p.m. before Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura.
It’s not known whether Kema will plead to a murder or manslaughter charge, or if he will plead guilty or no contest.
A conviction for second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, while a manslaughter conviction carries a maximum 20-year prison term.
Kema is in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 bail.
A Hilo grand jury indicted Kema and his 46-year-old wife, Jaylin Kema, on April 28, 2016, for the death of their son. The indictment alleged murder by omission, which means the boy’s death resulted from the couple’s failure to seek medical attention or to provide for his basic needs.
Peter Boy, who was abused almost from birth, went missing in 1997. His body has not been found. Kema Sr. told reporters in August 1997 he left his son with an “Aunty Rose Makuakane” in Honolulu as a hanai, or informal Hawaiian adoption. Authorities didn’t believe Kema and couldn’t find evidence the woman existed or airline tickets to corroborate Kema’s account.
The boy’s disappearance was the subject of extensive statewide media coverage. His face was ubiquitous on bumper stickers in the late 1990s and early 2000s asking, “Where’s Peter Boy?”
A tearful Jaylin Kema pleaded guilty to manslaughter Dec. 1, telling Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara, who’s since retired, “I failed to protect my son.”
Hara said that in return for Jaylin Kema’s plea, the state has agreed to sentence her to 10 years probation with one year in jail.
Jaylin Kema, who also pleaded guilty to second-degree theft for unlawfully receiving more than $18,000 in food stamps, faces a possible 20 years on the manslaughter charge and five years on the theft charge if she fails to live up to her end of the plea deal, which includes testifying against her husband, if necessary.
She remains in custody at HCCC in lieu of $150,000 bail. A sentencing date of May 30 was set, but if she is not sentenced by April 27, she will be freed on supervised release with electronic monitoring. That date will mark a year of incarceration.
Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville told Hara a forensic pathologist would testify Peter Boy probably died from septic shock due to an infected and festering wound on his arm caused by abuse from Kema Sr., and because his parents failed to provide the boy timely medical attention.
According to Damerville, Peter Boy’s siblings said Jaylin Kema cleaned the wound with hydrogen peroxide and iodine, and gave the boy medicine in his milk.
“We don’t know exactly what kind of medicine was being given to him. It was probably some form of antibiotic,” Damerville said. “But for many antibiotics, delivering it in milk product would likely interfere with the effectiveness of the antibiotic.”
Damerville said he was told by Peter Boy’s siblings the child “had a hole in his arm the size of a quarter that was so deep you could put your finger in it.” He said Jaylin Kema “was a chronically abused spouse, but the circumstances were such that she had many opportunities to report the abuse of herself and her children and did not do so.”
According to 2,000-plus pages of documents released in 2005 by then-Department of Human Services Director Lillian Koller, Peter Boy’s litany of abuse started Aug. 11, 1991.
The boy, then 3 months old, was admitted to Hilo Hospital, where X-rays showed multiple new and healing fractures to a shoulder, elbow, ribs and knee. All the children were removed from the Kemas, with Peter Boy’s older half-sister and half-brother placed with Jaylin Kema’s parents in Kona and Peter Boy being shuttled between a foster home and his maternal grandparents.
The toddler was returned to the Kemas in July 1994 despite multiple warnings from numerous sources that his parents were unfit. His older siblings were returned 11 months later.
Peter Boy was last seen by his siblings in June 1997. Jaylin Kema didn’t officially report his disappearance until January 1998 after prompting by a social worker and police.
