Hawai‘i Island police detectives have forwarded a 2022 Puna murder investigation to the County Prosecutor’s office for review. The victim is identified as 5-month-old Makia Alameda of Kalapana.

On December 31, 2022, 911 dispatchers received a call from the child’s mother saying she and her boyfriend were headed from their Kalapana residence towards the Pahoa Fire Station with their unresponsive five-month-old baby. Puna patrol officers and Hawai’i County Fire Department (HFD) personnel intercepted the vehicle on Highway 130 near Leilani Estates. HFD personnel immediately began CPR on the baby while transporting her via ambulance to the Hilo Medical Center Emergency Room where he was later pronounced dead.

During the course of their investigation, detectives with the Area I Criminal Investigation Section conducted numerous interviews and follow ups with the child’s parents, as well as other witnesses. The scene was identified and processed while items of evidence were recovered.

During an autopsy, the forensic pathologist ruled the cause of death was asphyxia and the manner of death to be homicide. The baby was also noted to have acute blunt force injuries, as well some in the healing stages.

The case was initially classified as a coroner’s inquest investigation until detectives received the final autopsy report in late 2023, when it was reclassified to second-degree murder.

Police ask anyone with information about this case to contact the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 961-2255.