The Nov. 17, 2021, grand jury proceeding transcript in the murder of Isabella Kalua includes the testimony of her older sister, who was 12 at the time, providing chilling details of what she said happened the night of the 6-year-old’s death and what may have happened to the girl’s body.
The transcript was attached to a motion filed in February to dismiss the murder charge filed by Lehua Kalua, Isabella’s adoptive mother, and oral arguments were scheduled to be heard Monday. But the hearing was postponed to April 28 due to the unavailability of the deputy prosecutors on the case.
The then-12-year-old, eldest of four daughters of Melanie Joseph and Adam Sellers adopted by Lehua and Isaac K. Kalua III, answered questions from Deputy Prosecutor Erica Candelario during the Oahu grand jury proceeding.
She admitted she initially lied to police that Isabella was missing after walking out of the house because “my parents said if I ruin their life they’re gonna ruin mine.”
The girl said what really happened was that “Mom … put her in a cage and put the tape on her mouth. And we went sleep. Then we woke up and she was not breathing.”
She described how Isabella Kalua’s hands and feet were bound together with duct tape, and also her mouth and nose were duct-taped.
Lehua Kalua kept a dog cage in the kitchen, and when Isabella was in it, it was in the bathroom, the girl told the grand jury.
The sister testified her mom woke her the night Isabella stopped breathing. Kalua placed Isabella in the bathtub with water to revive her, but nothing happened so she removed her, dried her off, then placed her on the floor of Isabella and her older sister’s bedroom.
Isaac “Sonny” Kalua, her adoptive father, also charged in the murder indictment, was near the bathroom and said nothing, according to the testimony.
The 12-year-old said she and her younger siblings slept elsewhere, while their parents stayed up. The next morning, “when I went back in my room, she wasn’t there.”
Following Isabella’s death, the sister said the Kaluas went to different beaches and bathrooms every other day, “poured this green stuff into the toilet,” purchased from a store next to the Ice Palace, Home Depot and a “cleaning store.”
“She told me to watch if somebody’s coming,” the girl said.
While at the beaches, Lehua Kalua washed pots, which were burned inside. “I don’t know what they were doing,” she said.
The girl recalled her mother cooking “foils on the grill” and a 12-pack of hot dogs.
“I don’t know what was in the foils, but she put it in with the hot dogs. And after it cooled off we took it to the dump.”
She said the hot dogs were burned, were not eaten and her mom “trashed the foils” and took the barbecue grill to the Waimanalo dump.
About 15 family, friends and community supporters for the 6-year-old Waimanalo girl they refer to by her birth name, Ariel Pilialoha Sellers, attended the hearing Monday.
Kalua appeared in court wearing a white prison jumpsuit.
Kalua’s attorney, Emlyn Higa, said in the motion the second- degree murder charge should be dismissed, or, in the alternative, to strike the “omission” theory because it fails to include material elements of an omission theory.
He asserted no evidence was presented to the grand jury to support a finding of probable cause as to two material elements: that she intentionally or knowingly failed to perform a legal duty, and intended or knew that her failure to perform that legal duty would cause Isabella Kalua to suffocate, and that her failure to call 911 caused Kalua’s death by suffocation.
He also filed a motion to dismiss the hindering prosecution charge based on legal errors.
Judge Paul Wong continued the hearing because both deputy prosecutors on the case were testifying before the Legislature on Senate Bill 281, which would make torture a Class A felony. It would include acts against a minor or vulnerable person, which includes some acts, including starvation, of which the Kaluas are accused.
The girl testified Sonny Kalua, the adoptive father, “faked” COVID-19, staying home two days after Isabella Kalua died, so he could help her mom “clean and get rid of stuff.”
The girl said she and her mom cleaned the whole house, using paint scrubbers and a white powder to which they added hot water. They used a lime- or lemon- scented liquid, which her mom sprayed and she pumped.
The family also got a puppy “because we had the cage that Isabella died in, so they wanted to make like it was for the dog,” the 12-year-old said.
She testified, “Mom would choke her, putting her chin on the crib rim,” causing burn marks, said the eldest, who testified she had also been subjected to that treatment.
The girl said Lehua Kalua had not fed Isabella for five months, nor would allow her to feed her sister. If caught, the sister said she would get into trouble.
The sister said she was often kept home from school to “watch the kids and clean up.”
“When Mom wanted me to watch Isabella, we were duct-taped together” about three times, she said, and Isabella had been duct-taped in the cage “maybe twice.”
The Kaluas called police Sept. 13, 2021, to report Isabella missing from their Waimanalo house, and told them a side door was opened in the middle of the night and she probably wandered off, a police officer testified.
However, police said she died about a month earlier.
Lehua Kalua’s sister-in-law testified Kalua fed raw vegetables to Isabella, while the rest of the family ate good meals, explaining the child had stomach problems.
Kalua told the sister-in-law, who lived with the girls, she never wanted Isabella but that Child Welfare Services wanted the sisters to be together.
Maili Taele, a CWS social worker, testified she helped place Isabella and her older sister on Feb. 8, 2019, with the Kaluas, as part of a foster care system, and later their two younger sisters.
She said she did face-to-face visits once a month, “except for COVID,” when they did video meetings by FaceTime.
She testified she addressed the issue of Isabella’s missing school with her guardian ad litem, the resource caregiver and with the school.
She said Lehua Kalua “made an excuse that she was sick.”
The social worker talked to her doctor about the girl’s thinning hair.
She did a referral of a multidisciplinary team through Catholic Charities to address Isabella’s broken bones in 2019 and 2020, which found the accidental explanation plausible, so CWS did not confirm abuse.
Taele did monthly home visits until the adoptions were finalized in February 2021, but made a home visit in April 2021 for the younger sibling.
Taele noticed Isabella was never playing with the other children, and Kalua would say she was either sleeping, sick or at school.
On Aug. 24, 2021, Taele received a text from Kalua saying her husband had COVID-19 and was quarantined 15 days, so they did a Zoom meeting. In September 2021, Kalua said the quarantine was extended 10 days. Taele asked for in-person meetings outside the home, but Kalua insisted on rescheduling.
On Sept. 13, 2021, Kalua called Taele screaming, wailing and sobbing Isabella was missing.
Correction: Lehua Kalua called Maili Taele to report Isabella Kalua was missing on Sept. 13, 2021. A previous version of this story gave an incorrect year.
