A 26-year-old Hilo man admitted in court he repeatedly stabbed his former girlfriend more than two years ago when she went to his Kimo Street home to pick up her children.
Cyrus Jabilona was scheduled for a trial with jury selection to start Monday, but instead pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter and domestic abuse of a minor younger than 14.
Jabilona is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 28 before Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto.
Jabilona, who originally faced an attempted second-degree murder charge — which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole — faces a potential 20-year prison term for the manslaughter charge.
The victim, 27-year-old Cheylee Octavio, was stabbed eight times. She suffered a lacerated kidney, lacerated liver, a fractured rib and thoracic injuries, according to court documents filed by police.
A Hilo Medical Center emergency room physician told police Octavio’s injuries were life-threatening.
She has since recovered.
According to Octavio’s sister, Choncie-Lynn Agbayani, Octavio was at Jabilona’s Kimo Street home to retrieve her children when the attack occurred on June 10, 2021. According to the documents and Octavio’s family, the stabbing happened in front of Octavio’s then-4-year-old daughter and then-1-year-old son, the latter fathered by Jabilona.
Octavio’s daughter — who allegedly referred to Jabilona as “Daddy” — told personnel at the Children’s Justice Center the attack was his fault, according to documents.
The girl reportedly told an interviewer Jabilona “was yelling at Mommy, Mommy was running away from Daddy, and blood was all over,” the documents state.
A search warrant on Jabilona’s home turned up a kitchen knife with a silver blade and dark-colored handle, believed to be the weapon used in the attack.
Octavio’s grandmother, Paula Agrigado, told the Tribune-Herald in 2021 that after Octavio was stabbed, she managed to get to the bedroom of Jabilona’s mother, who called police.
But according to Agrigado, Jabilona’s mother was too hysterical to be understood by dispatchers, so Octavio talked to them herself. She then used Jabilona’s home phone to call her mother, Cheryl Octavio. Cheylee Octavio told her mother she loves her and asked her to take care of her children.
Octavio went to court after the attack and was granted an order for protection from Jabilona for 10 years. She told the Tribune-Herald in 2022 she hadn’t had any contact with Jabilona since the attack.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
