Settlement talks set for state, family of Peter Boy Kema in wrongful death case

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Eight years after filing a wrongful death lawsuit, the siblings of Peter Boy Kema are preparing for settlement talks with the state, though their attorney says the two sides remain far apart on what the Hawaii Island boy’s life was worth.

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A settlement conference is scheduled for July 26. If talks fail, his siblings are prepared to go to trial in September, which would force them to relive the most painful details of his death.

Peter Boy Kema, affectionately called Pepe by his family, was happiest in his grandparents’ home in Kona. All the children were safe there.

But in 1995, the state child protective services sent them back to their abusive parents, Jaylin and Peter Kema Sr., who tortured Pepe most of all.

In 1997, child protective services received two separate warnings, official complaints that the 6-year-old had serious injuries and was in danger. Nothing was done. He disappeared.

Nearly 20 years later, in 2016, the parents were charged and, a year later, admitted the boy was dead as a result of the abuse.

The siblings filed the civil, wrongful death lawsuit in 2018.

Chauntelle Acol, Peter Boy’s oldest sister, is now 37 years old. She said the legal delays force them to relive the trauma of that time period.

“It just prolongs our ability to fully heal,” she said. “Those memories and those moments… seeing Pepe, you know, being hung from the rafters or being starved or hearing him, while we’re sitting in the back of the car, him crying out for somebody to help save him. And you just feel powerless.”

“I’m his older sister and I’m supposed to be the one that helps him. And I spent a lot of time with him and witnessing a lot of abuse and that carries a lot of guilt, you know,” Acol added.

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Randall Rosenberg, the family’s attorney, said the state has acknowledged its failures but the two sides disagree on compensation.

“They know what they did wrong. It’s taken a while to get them to admit it, but now they’re admitting it,” Rosenberg said. “So the question now is, what is it worth? And how can you take a position that this child’s life is not worth much money after what was done to him?”

Peter Boy’s youngest sister, Lina Acol, said the prospect of trial is emotionally difficult.

“It’s triggering, and it’s heartbreaking, and it’s hard,” the 33-year old said. “It’s having to just speak about it when I really don’t want to.”

Peter Boy’s two sisters now live in Florida. His brother, Allan Acol, 39, lives in Kona in their grandparents’ home, where the children thrived before being returned to their parents.

“We still have lots of memories of us just playing in here, playing in this house,” Allan Acol said. “We’d play hide and seek with all of us. And then we get to see Pepe run by, waddling. … It gives you very good memories.”

In a statement, the state attorney general’s office said they could not speak on the case because it is active litigation.

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