A state judge sentenced a defendant who was 16 years old when he fatally stabbed his bed-bound adopted mother to eight years in prison this afternoon for manslaughter.

The normal prison sentence for manslaughter is 20 years.

Circuit Judge Todd Eddins sentenced Kaanoi Iz Kipapa to eight years in prison under a provision under state sentencing laws that allows judges to impose lower penalties for defendants who were 21 years old or younger when they committed their crimes.

Kipapa, now 21, was originally charged with murder in connection with the July 5, 2014 death of Jolyn Kipapa. The State Family Court had waived its jurisdiction over him allowing the state to charge him as an adult. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in February in a deal with the prosecutor.

Eddins said in agreeing to the plea deal, the state acknowledged that Kipapa was suffering from an extreme mental or emotional disturbance when he committed the crime. He also said the letters, records and reports from psychiatrists, family members and other children who had been fostered and adopted by the Kipapas indicate that Kaanoi had been abused for years by his adopted mother and by his mother’s biological children, at her direction.

Police went to the Kipapas’ Waimanalo home after Kaanoi called 911 and reported that he had stabbed his mother. After he hung up he resumed the attack.