LIHUE — A Waimea man convicted of breaking his mother’s bones and beating and kicking his girlfriend in the head was sentenced Thursday to six months in jail, five years probation and ordered to pay $92,000 in restitution. Kaeden Palmeira,
LIHUE — A Waimea man convicted of breaking his mother’s bones and beating and kicking his girlfriend in the head was sentenced Thursday to six months in jail, five years probation and ordered to pay $92,000 in restitution.
Kaeden Palmeira, 24, appeared before Fifth Circuit Court Judge Randal Valenciano standing next to Deputy Public Defender Stephanie Sato to hear his sentence.
“Bad night, big consequences,” Valenciano said. “You have to hit your mom pretty hard to break her bones. You were definitely out of control. You went after the mother of your child while she was holding the child.”
Palmeira was charged with two counts of abuse of a family or household member, to which he pleaded no contest, and two counts of interference with reporting an emergency or crime. He was found guilty of the two abuse charges on Aug. 18.
He was sentenced to six months in jail with credit for time served, five years probation, and ordered to pay $92,000 in restitution, which includes medical fees from injuries sustained by his mother.
Sato said her client’s action were probably fueled by alcohol and that he had potential, including a job waiting for him upon release.
According to the facts of the case read aloud by Deputy Prosecutor Jenna Tatsey, Palmeira was supposed to be watching his 3-year-old daughter at his uncle’s house on July 13, 2014. Instead, he brought his daughter to a beach party where he took a picture of her while she slept on a picnic table at Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor and sent the picture to his girlfriend.
She reached out to Palmeira’s mom to ask her to see if the little girl was home and when they determined she was not, they went to Kikiaola boat harbor to get her. When they tried to get the little girl, Palmeira attacked his mother and punched her in the face multiple times. Palmeira’s 15-year-old sister was present and tried to call police, but Palmeira grabbed her phone and tossed it.
Palmeira then went after his girlfriend, who was inside a vehicle holding their 3-year-old child. She crawled out of one side of the vehicle and tried to hide behind it. Palmeira went around the car and started to slap and punch her in the head. He then started to kick her, causing her head to slam into the car.
His mother had to be medevac’d to Queens Medical Center on Oahu and had broken bones throughout her face, including a shattered eye socket. His girlfriend sustained swelling to her head.
The case was prosecuted, in part, under a recent law allowing domestic abusers to be prosecuted as felons for offenses committed in the presence of minors under the age of 14, according to a county news release.
“Children who grow up seeing violence in the family are more likely to have a whole host of additional life challenges,” said Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar in the release. “We want to let would-be abusers know that if they persist in exposing their children to this traumatic assaultive behavior, they will be prosecuted as felons.”
•••
Michelle Iracheta, cops and courts reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or miracheta@thegardenisland.com. Follow Michelle on Twitter @cephira
