Sina Pili pleaded guilty to assault and two misdemeanors after originally facing a manslaughter charge in the 11-year-old girl’s death.
HONOLULU — A Hawaii woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for assaulting her adopted 11-year-old daughter shortly before the child died at the family’s Oahu home in December 2023.
Sina Pili was sentenced July 29 in Honolulu Circuit Court after pleading guilty in April to second-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a minor and persistent nonsupport. Circuit Judge Rowena Somerville imposed a 10-year term for the assault conviction and one year for each misdemeanor. The sentences will be served at the same time, and Pili will receive credit for time already spent in custody.
The case arose from the Dec. 22, 2023, death of Azaeliyah Pili-Ah You at the family’s home in Laie, a community on Oahu’s North Shore. Pili and her husband had formally adopted Azaeliyah about two months earlier, although court records reviewed by Honolulu Civil Beat indicated that the girl had lived with the family for about a year.
First responders found Azaeliyah unconscious at the home and saw bruises on her face and body, according to police and court records. She was taken to Kahuku Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Authorities later determined that the girl’s death was caused by injuries associated with child abuse and classified the death as a homicide.
Investigators said Azaeliyah had been ill with COVID-19, influenza and pneumonia in the days before her death. On the morning she died, Pili made her run outside as punishment after the child was slow to prepare for a planned shopping trip, according to accounts of police records and court proceedings. Pili later admitted that she slapped and struck Azaeliyah repeatedly for about 30 minutes after the girl did not complete the run.
Azaeliyah later went to take a shower after Pili’s husband and the family’s other children returned home. The adults said they heard a noise and found her unresponsive on the shower floor. Pili’s husband called 911 and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, according to court records. Police initially investigated the case through a child abuse unit before transferring it to homicide detectives.
A forensic review completed months after the death documented extensive injuries. The findings, combined with Pili’s statements and accounts from other children in the home, led a grand jury to indict her in March 2025 on charges of manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a minor and persistent nonsupport. She initially pleaded not guilty and was held without bail after her arrest.
Pili later accepted an agreement that replaced the manslaughter count with second-degree assault. Manslaughter carried a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, while the assault conviction carried a maximum term of 10 years. Prosecutors said the agreement secured a conviction and avoided a trial that could have required Azaeliyah’s surviving siblings to testify about the events surrounding her death.
At the sentencing hearing, Pili apologized to Azaeliyah, her family and the community. Her attorneys asked Somerville to impose probation, arguing that Pili regretted her conduct and had faced significant pressures while caring for the children. The judge rejected that request and said there was no justification for the injuries Pili caused.
Deputy prosecutor Tiffany Kaeo questioned whether Pili had fully accepted responsibility, telling the court that a letter submitted before sentencing appeared to shift some blame to the circumstances surrounding the assault. Prosecutors argued that a prison term was needed because of the seriousness of the conduct and the lasting effects on Azaeliyah’s family and surviving siblings.
Azaeliyah’s biological relatives criticized the plea agreement and sentence as too lenient. Her aunt, Hailau Acevedo, said the outcome did not feel like justice because the case involved the death of a child. Tensions between members of the child’s biological and adoptive families led to a confrontation outside the courtroom after the hearing.
Pili previously worked as a behavioral health specialist at Kahuku High and Intermediate School, where she assisted students with disabilities and behavioral needs. She also served as an adjunct instructor in social work at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. The university said it ended her contract after learning of her arrest. Questions remained about when education officials learned that Pili was under investigation and why she continued working with children before her arrest.
The four other adopted children living in Pili’s home were removed from her custody after Azaeliyah’s death. Court records indicated that the children were placed with relatives, in foster homes or in other facilities. Authorities have not publicly announced criminal charges against Pili’s husband, whose possible involvement had also been investigated.
Pili has remained in custody since March 2025. Her attorney, Myles Breiner, said after sentencing that he planned to appeal the court’s decision to impose imprisonment instead of probation. Pili was also ordered to pay more than $1,000 in restitution.
Author note: Last updated August 4, 2026.