Sina Pili received a 10-year prison term after pleading guilty to assault and two misdemeanor offenses involving 11-year-old Azaeliyah Pili-Ah You.
HONOLULU — A Hawaii woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting that she assaulted her adopted 11-year-old daughter shortly before the child died at their Laie home in December 2023.
Sina Pili was sentenced July 29 in Honolulu Circuit Court for second-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a minor and persistent nonsupport. Judge Rowena Somerville ordered the sentences to run at the same time, leaving Pili with a maximum term of 10 years and credit for time already served. Pili had originally faced a manslaughter charge but pleaded guilty to the lesser offenses in April under an agreement with prosecutors.
The case centered on the Dec. 22, 2023, death of Azaeliyah Pili-Ah You. First responders found the girl unconscious at the family’s home in Laie, a community on Oahu’s North Shore. Prosecutors said she had bruises on her face and other parts of her body. She was taken to Kahuku Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Authorities said Azaeliyah had been ill with COVID-19, influenza and pneumonia before her death. According to accounts presented in court and reported by local news organizations, Pili made the girl run outside as punishment and then assaulted her for about 30 minutes. Somerville said during sentencing that the injuries Pili caused ultimately resulted in the child’s death.
Pili apologized in court to Azaeliyah, her family and the community. “Azaeliyah, I’m sorry baby for everything. Please forgive me for what I’ve done,” she said through tears. Pili also told the court that she loved Azaeliyah and her other children. Her defense attorneys had asked the judge to impose probation rather than prison.
Somerville rejected the request, saying there was no excuse for causing the injuries that led to the child’s death. The judge said she had never before sentenced a mother who caused serious bodily injury to her child. Pili received 10 years for the assault conviction and one year for each misdemeanor, with all three terms running concurrently.
Deputy prosecutor Tiffany Kaeo told the court that Azaeliyah’s death had caused lasting grief for her family and community. Prosecutors agreed to the plea arrangement in part because they hoped to provide closure for the girl’s surviving siblings, who were taken into state custody after her death. The agreement avoided a trial and guaranteed a conviction but reduced Pili’s potential punishment.
Azaeliyah’s relatives criticized the outcome as too lenient. Her aunt, Hailau Acevedo, said outside the courthouse that the sentence did not feel like justice because a child had died. Family members also questioned whether Pili had fully accepted responsibility, while prosecutors said a letter Pili submitted before sentencing appeared to place some blame on the circumstances surrounding the assault.
Court records cited by Honolulu Civil Beat said Azaeliyah had lived with Pili, Pili’s husband and four other adopted children for about a year. The couple formally adopted her in October 2023, roughly two months before her death. Pili’s husband was related to the girl’s biological mother, according to the records.
Pili had worked as a school-based behavioral health specialist and had a master’s degree in social work. Brigham Young University-Hawaii said she had also served as an adjunct instructor but that her contract was terminated after the university learned of her arrest. She had adopted five children.
Pili has remained in custody since her March 2025 arrest. The sentence resolves the criminal case against her, although questions remain among Azaeliyah’s relatives and child-welfare advocates about the support and oversight provided to the family before the girl’s death.
Author note: Last updated August 3, 2026.