Richianna DeGuzman walked onto the campus of James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach this week for her first day of classes, three years after a stray bullet struck her in the head at Maili Beach Park in Waianae during what should have been an ordinary day at the beach. She was 17 at the time, and doctors initially believed the wound would kill her within days. Now 20, DeGuzman has enrolled in the school's special education program, a milestone her family describes as one of the biggest steps yet in a recovery that has stretched across three years of hospital stays, therapy and setbacks.
According to Hawaii News Now, DeGuzman's mother, Susan Mahiai, walked her daughter onto campus and called the return a massive step in her daughter's road to recovery. State Sen. Kurt Fevella, who represents Ewa Beach, also accompanied DeGuzman to campus as students and staff cheered her on, the station reported. Mahiai said her daughter needs more sociable activities and events going forward, adding that DeGuzman continues to work on walking independently and on improving her speech.
A Head Wound Doctors Feared Would Kill Her Within Days
DeGuzman was shot twice at Maili Beach Park in June 2023 — once in the head above her left ear and once in her left thigh — according to Honolulu Civil Beat. The outlet reported that her initial medical prognosis gave her only three days to live, and that the shooting left her partially paralyzed.
In the early months of her recovery, DeGuzman could not speak and communicated with her family only by selecting yes or no on a specialized phone app, the outlet reported. By late 2024, she had regained her speech and could recite the alphabet on her own, one of several milestones on her way back to the classroom.
DeGuzman's path back also included a stay at Islands Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, where she experienced a seizure and a brain infection before returning home in January 2024, according to KITV4. The station's report captured a difficult stretch of her recovery, coming more than two years before she was well enough to walk back into a public school classroom.
No Charges Filed as Fevella Confronts Rising Gun Violence
The criminal investigation into DeGuzman's shooting remains ongoing, according to Hawaii News Now, which reported that police said charges against the suspect were dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Honolulu Civil Beat's account adds another layer: the outlet reported that Honolulu Police Department investigators identified a 20-year-old male suspect, but that a Hawaii District Court judge found no probable cause, a ruling that prevented officers from making an arrest or filing formal charges at all.
The shooting happened amid a documented rise in violent crime in the area: in Honolulu Police Department District 8, which covers Waianae and Maili, reported homicides climbed from four in 2019 to 10 by October 2024, per the same investigation. In October 2024, State Sen. Fevella publicly called on legislative and community leaders to step up efforts to curb the broader uptick in gun violence across West Oahu, according to Island Life Live.
Fevella's connection to the campus runs deep: he graduated from James Campbell High School in 1986 and previously worked as a custodian at a local middle school before entering state politics, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. He now represents Senate District 20, which covers Ewa Beach.
Hawaii's Largest High School Welcomes Her Back
James Campbell High School, where DeGuzman is now enrolled, is the largest public high school in Hawaii, serving about 2,890 students during the 2024-2025 school year, according to Aloha State Daily. Under Hawaii's Act 215, enacted in 2014, students with qualifying disabilities remain eligible for public special education services and Individualized Education Programs through age 22, according to the Special Parent Information Network — the law that made DeGuzman's return to a high school campus at 20 possible.
DeGuzman's recovery has also drawn public support outside the classroom. In December 2024, she and Mahiai were featured in Waianae's Christmas parade as she continued her public recovery, Hoodline previously reported.
