Girl, 10, saw father stab mom, police say

The 10-year-old daughter of Cecilia Fiesta was sitting on a couch in her Aliamanu living room moments before her parents started arguing and her father stabbed her mother about six times in her back and torso, a police affidavit filed in Honolulu District Court says.

Police found Fiesta, 43, unresponsive on the floor of her home at about 8:15 p.m. Monday. She was taken to Kaiser Medical Center, where doctors pronounced her dead. A friend said Fiesta was working two jobs about a year ago to bring her husband and a 17-year-old daughter to Hawaii from the Philippines.

Fiesta’s husband, 46-year-old Pablo Fiesta Jr., was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in connection with her death. He was being held at Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 bail.

According to a police affidavit, officers responded to a stabbing case at 1017 Puolo Drive and, after knocking on the door, looked through a window to see Fiesta lying on the floor, covered in blood.

Officers entered the home and found Fiesta’s 10-year-old daughter locked in a back bedroom.

The girl told officers that she was sitting on the couch and her parents were sitting at a table in the living room when they began to argue. When her mother stood up, her father pushed her backward onto a table in the kitchen.

Her father grabbed a knife from a drawer and stabbed her mother about six times, the girl said.

Pablo Fiesta was not at the scene when police arrived. He was arrested about 24 hours later at Salt Lake Boulevard and Arizona Road.

The affidavit said he was arrested after he waved down an officer and asked whether police were looking for him.

Cecilia Fiesta was a housekeeper at Tripler Army Medical Center and had one other daughter, age 17.

Col. David K. Dunning, commander of Tripler Army Medical Center, said, "Our TAMC Ohana is greatly saddened by the loss of Cecilia Fiesta, a hardworking, loyal and dedicated member of our housekeeping staff. Our deepest condolences to Cecilia’s family during this difficult time."

Candice Ualesi, Fiesta’s friend, said when she last saw her in September, Fiesta was working at Tripler and at McDonald’s in Salt Lake to help bring her husband and older daughter to Hawaii. A supervisor at the McDonald’s declined to comment Thursday.

Theresa Johnson, former manager at Tripler Fisher House, where Fiesta was assigned, said Fiesta was a "shining light" for residents at the house, which provides a home for families of patients receiving treatment at Tripler.

Johnson said Fiesta was always positive and "had something kind to say or a smile."

"She was just an awesome person," Johnson said.

"She was just eager to please, a loyal person who strived every day to do her job," she said. "There’s a lot of people who she came in contact with and made their lives better."