Hawaii couple allegedly fatally abused 3-year-old girl and blamed it on her 5-year-old brother

HONOLULU (TCN) -- A woman and her girlfriend are being charged with multiple felonies, including murder, for allegedly abusing and starving the woman’s four children, leading to the death of a 3-year-old girl.

Records show Janae Perez and her girlfriend, Ashleigh Utley, have been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of kidnapping, and first-degree hindering prosecution in connection with the death of Perez’s daughter, Sarai Perez-Rivera.

According to Hawaii News Now, on June 13, 2024, Honolulu Police Department officers responded to a townhouse on Kekuilani Loop and found Perez-Rivera unresponsive. Honolulu Police Lt. Deena Thoemmes said in a press conference that the girl was "malnourished and pulseless with ashen skin and bruises to her legs, hips, arms, face, back and head." Paramedics transported her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. Her cause of death was listed as dehydration and starvation.

Perez and Utley allegedly told police at first that Perez-Rivera’s 5-year-old brother killed her. During the investigation, however, detectives learned the two women allegedly abused Perez’s three other children as well. Thoemmes said Utley and Perez "would primarily hit the children with their hands, sticks, paddles, slippers, and belts to all parts of their body."

The women reportedly recorded videos of the children locked in their rooms, including one where Perez-Rivera was "crying and in severe discomfort and distress, saying that she had to use the bathroom and that she was thirsty."

Perez, however, "yelled and swore at her."

KHON-TV reports one of Perez and Utley’s former roommates told police that the women would "mainly whack the kids with their hands, but also hit the children with sticks and paddles." One of Perez’s sons allegedly attempted to flee the house, but Perez and Utley reportedly dragged him inside. Utley allegedly beat him with a screwdriver and stick while Perez hit him with a two-by-four.

According to KHON, the couple only allowed the kids to drink 8 ounces of water per day even though the home "possessed sufficient food supply to their children, but they chose not to."

Both Perez and Utley are being held on $1 million bond.

MORE: