Despite arguments by Prosecutors, letters submitted by the child’s teachers and emergency medical responders, and a presentence investigation report recommending the maximum prison penalty, 67 year-old Henrietta H. Stone of Hilo was sentenced to probation for the death of her 9 year-old granddaughter.
Hilo Circuit Court Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered that Stone be sentenced to a ten-year probation term, credited for any jail time served (between 2017 and 2024), and ordered that she not serve any additional jail time.
Stone had custody of her granddaughter at the time of her death, which was listed as malnutrition with contributory causes being acute pneumonia and severe kidney infection. She weighed 45 pounds and was 53 inches tall at the time of her death.
On February 6, 2024, Stone, who was being held on $100,000.00 bail, appeared in Hilo Circuit Court where she entered a “No Contest” plea to the charge of Manslaughter. Sentencing was originally set for April 16, 2024 but continued at the request of her defense counsel. Stone also requested that she be granted supervised release; however, Prosecutors objected.
On July 24, 2024, Stone was released from custody after posting $100,000.00 cash bail.
Stone is the last of the three individuals charged in relation to her granddaughter’s death. The minor’s parents, Henrietta’s daughter, Tiffany Stone, and her husband Kevin Lehano, were also convicted of Manslaughter.
On March 22, 2021, Tiffany Stone was sentenced to ten years probation and two years in jail. On June 30, 2021, Lehano was also sentenced to ten years probation and two years in jail. Prosecutors argued for the maximum twenty-year penalty in both of those cases as well.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Hashizaki.
HPD Photo