A 67-year-old grandmother in Hawaii will not face jail time in connection with the death of her 9-year-old granddaughter, who weighed only 45 pounds when she starved in 2016 while under her care.
Authorities announced on Thursday that Hilo Circuit Court Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered Henrietta Stone to serve a 10-year probation sentence for the death of young Shaelynn Lehano-Stone.
Nakamoto imposed the sentence over the strong objections of the Hawaii Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, which sought a maximum sentence of 20 years for Stone.
“There are no words to describe how disappointed and frustrated I am with the outcome of this case. Shaelynn and our community deserved a lot better.
“Her death was caused by the three people she should have been able to trust the most,” said Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen in a statement issued after the sentencing hearing. “We will not let this result discourage our ongoing efforts to protect our keiki.”
“Keiki” is a Hawaiian word for “child.”
In February 2024, Stone pleaded no contest to one count of manslaughter for her involvement in Shaelynn’s death. She was originally charged with one count of second-degree murder.
Shaelynn’s parents, Kevin Lehano and Tiffany K. Stone, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a 10-year probation sentence, according to records. Notably, the victim’s grandmother served as her legal guardian at the time she died.
Prosecutors also emphasized that several of Shaelynn’s teachers and emergency medical personnel who initially treated the victim submitted victim impact statements urging the court to sentence Stone to prison.
A pre-sentence investigation report also recommended that the grandmother serve the maximum sentence.
“Manslaughter carries a penalty of either a twenty-year prison term or ten years probation and up to two years in jail,” the prosecuting attorney’s office stated in a press release. “Prosecutors argued for the maximum twenty-year prison penalty.”
Following her initial arrest in 2016, Stone remained in jail until July 2024, when she was released after posting a $100,000 bond.
According to a Hawaii Police Department press release, on June 28, 2016, officers and firefighters responded to a call about an unconscious child at Stone’s home on Kino’ole Street in Hilo, Hawaii.
“First responders were confronted with what appeared to be a severely malnourished and unconscious young girl lying on the floor within the home,” according to police. “She was transported to the Hilo Medical Center where she died a few hours later.”
According to the Associated Press, in the months leading up to Shaelynn’s death, her grandmother removed her from Hilo Union Elementary so that she could be homeschooled instead.
Furthermore, authorities said Stone kept alarms on the refrigerator door to prevent access, and Shaelynn’s weight at the time of her death was the same as when she was four years old.
“The cause of death was listed as malnutrition with contributory causes being acute pneumonia and acute pyelonephritis (severe kidney infection),” according to the prosecution. “She weighed 45 pounds and was 53 inches tall at the time of her death.”
