Tara Tevaga, a 44-year-old Native Hawaiian woman from Honolulu, died there on September 24, 2016, a loss later recorded in an obituary that named her family and the home she came from.
In the years that followed, court records show prosecutors tied her death to a single episode in Honolulu that also involved a violent attack on another person the same day. The State’s case named Alabanza C.
Tuimalealiifano as the defendant, and the charging lineup reflected how investigators and prosecutors believed the events unfolded: allegations that ranged from an attempted murder count to manslaughter for Tevaga’s death, along with robbery and multiple firearm-related offenses.
By March 4, 2020, the case appeared to be moving toward resolution. In open court, Tuimalealiifano entered guilty pleas that included an amended attempted assault charge tied to Sherard Melei and a manslaughter plea in which he agreed, in the court’s words, that he “recklessly caused the death” of Tara Tevaga. He also pleaded guilty to firearm-in-commission counts and a prohibited-possession count, while the State indicated other charges would be dropped at sentencing.
But the ending did not hold. Tuimalealiifano later tried to withdraw his guilty pleas, and although the trial court denied that request and entered judgments in October 2020, the Intermediate Court of Appeals reversed course on November 30, 2021. The appellate court vacated the October 5, 2020 judgments and sent the cases back to the circuit court for further proceedings—meaning the convictions reflected in those judgments were set aside on appeal, and the case’s final outcome would depend on what happened after remand.
