Maui parents want more mental health help for woman who allegedly tried to take child

WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Maui woman accused of trying to kidnap a child last month is now facing a new charge.

The petty misdemeanor disorderly conduct case against Brisa Nip was dismissed on Tuesday. That is because prosecutors are now pursuing a felony charge.

Nip is now facing a custodial interference charge — a Class B Felony — punishable by up to five years in prison.

However, both Nip’s mother and the victim’s parents agree she needs more mental health help.

“Your Honor, I actually saw Brisa this morning and there was a medical emergency,” said Lindsay Lipp, Nip’s attorney in court on Tuesday.

Brisa Nip is accused of trying to take a five-year-old girl from Wailuku Gym in May.

She was not present in court on Tuesday. Her mother says she is in the Emergency Room because she is off her medication again.

The little girl’s parents are concerned that Nip was allowed back into the community in the first place.

“My daughter’s five and it’s our job to protect her, not just as parents but the state as well,” said the victim’s mother Tereza Himalaya.

Nip suffers from schizophrenia.

She has already spent a year in the Hawaii State Hospital after trying to take a child from Walmart in Kahului back in 2019.

The Himalayas say a year was not long enough.

“She should be in the Hawaii State Hospital pretty much for the rest of their life, where they can help her,” said Trenson Himalaya, the victim’s father.

Mental Health experts say indefinite admittance to the state hospital is rare.

“Mental patients, just like all other American citizens have rights, civil rights, and it would be against their rights to hold them indefinitely in the Hawaii State Hospital unless a court deemed that they were so dangerous and so impaired that they would need to be remaining in the state hospital,” said Licensed Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr. Thomas Harding.

Nip’s mother says her daughter is fine as long as she is on her medication. The challenge is keeping her on her medication – like so many others who suffer from mental illness.

Gov. Josh Green says he is working to help people like Nip.

“There are some advances in medical science. So, we’re seeing longer-acting medications that are injectable, usually, that will help people for long periods of time, six weeks or longer,” Green said.

It is unclear how long Nip will stay in the hospital this time.

Nip’s mother says she understand where the Himalayas are coming from. She hopes her daughter’s story can stimulate a greater action to help all those suffering from mental illness.

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