Suspect, 17, charged as adult in Makaha ranch murder

MAKAHA (HawaiiNewsNow) - A 17-year-old Maili youth is being prosecuted as an adult for the shooting of a Makaha rancher in February.

The young suspect could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The case highlighted conflicts between ranchers and illegal hunters on the west side of Oahu.

Chantston Pila Kekawa is being held at the juvenile detention facility on $1 million bail. Unless he can come up with bond, he will be transferred to Oahu Community Correctional Center on his 18th birthday next month to be held with other adults awaiting trial.

His defense attorney, Victor Bakke, opposed the court treating his client as an adult.

“I’m not happy at all about this. My client is a 17-year-old boy. He has no criminal record,” Bakke said.

Pila Kekawa is charged with killing Cranston Pia, 39, on Feb. 17 with a pistol shot to the head. Pia had armed himself with a rifle to confront a group of hunters trespassing on his Makaha ranch while their dogs harassed his cattle.

Bakke argues the shooting was in self defense.

“The victim in this case came out and started shooting at them and their dogs, and actually hit several of the dogs, almost killing them,” he said.

The family court judge agreed to adult prosecution because of the seriousness of the crime, and because it happened in front of the Pia’s mother.

Pila Kekawa is charged with second-degree murder, firearms possession and use, terroristic threatening and theft for stealing Pia’s rifle.

Ranchers, like Bobbie-Jo Griffith of Griffith Livestock Company, are pleased the teen will face adult consequences.

“I have mixed feelings about that. I mean he’s so young, yes, but he’s gonna have to be the example,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry that that’s gonna have to happen, but he’s the example of, ‘Don’t do this.’”

Griffith’s ranch is next door to the shooting scene. She said after the murder, she stopped confronting trespassers. She and other ranchers have complained that trespassing hunters and their dogs have killed livestock and put innocent people at risk.

“We’ve had to invest money into things that we shouldn’t have to invest in, trail cams and security cameras, stuff like that that we never needed before,” Griffith said.

Griffith said police and state law enforcement have tried to catch trespassers who easily hide in the brush.

Pila Kekawa’s attorney hopes prosecutors will make a deal.

“I am hoping that when the felony prosecutors, the adult prosecutors, look at the case, that hopefully we can come to some type of plea agreement,” Bakke said.

If convicted of murder, Pila Kekawa would automatically receive a sentence of life with the possibility of parole. If convicted of a lesser felony, he could be eligible for sentencing as a youthful offender.