An 11-year-old girl’s death that began as a frantic 911 call in Laie in late 2023 has now ended in a guilty plea from her adoptive mother.
On Wednesday, Sina Pili pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in the death of her 11-year-old adopted daughter, Azaeliyah Pili-Ah You, who was found unresponsive on Dec. 22, 2023. In court, Pili admitted she intentionally or knowingly caused serious bodily injury to the child, whose death investigators later ruled a homicide. Sentencing is set for July 29 before Circuit Judge Rowena Somerville.
According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Pili had originally been indicted on manslaughter in connection with the December 2023 death. She agreed in court Wednesday to plead guilty to first-degree assault, and prosecutors also accepted her guilty pleas to endangering the welfare of a minor and persistent nonsupport. Her attorney, Myles Breiner, told the paper the defense has argued there were substantive errors in the medical examiner’s review. By taking the deal, Pili avoids the possibility of facing a class A manslaughter charge at trial.
Autopsy and alleged injuries
A forensic pathologist concluded after testing that Azaeliyah’s cause of death was multiple injuries from child abuse and that the manner of death was homicide, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. Police investigators described extensive trauma, including deep bruising, bite marks, two broken ribs and a scalp hemorrhage. Authorities say the girl had been slapped and punched repeatedly on the day she died.
Family, work and protective custody
Pili worked as a behavioral health specialist at Kahuku High and Intermediate School and holds a master’s degree in social work, and her lawyer said she was pursuing a doctorate with research focused on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, per Hawaii News Now. After Azaeliyah’s death, child-welfare officials took custody of the couple’s four surviving adopted children, who were described in court records as school age.
What the plea changes
Under Hawaii law, assault in the first degree is a class B felony that can carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence, while manslaughter is a class A felony that can expose a defendant to up to 20 years behind bars. That difference makes Pili’s decision to plead to assault particularly significant for her potential sentence. The additional counts she admitted to carry far smaller maximum penalties. Those statutory ranges are set out in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Next steps
Pili remains in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center and has been held without bail, according to court records. The judge has scheduled a July 29 sentencing hearing in Oahu Circuit Court, where prosecutors, defense attorneys and family members will have a chance to offer statements and arguments on what sentence Pili should receive, based on the case file and prior reporting.
Hoodline first reported on the case when Pili was indicted in March 2025. For that earlier coverage, see Laie Behavioral Health Specialist Charged.
