Woman says she was strangled twice by ex-boyfriend

Suspect charged with attempted murder, kidnapping and abuse

WAILUKU -- A woman said she ripped open a portion of a locked bedroom door to escape after being twice strangled by her former boyfriend at her residence on Lanai last week.

"I couldn't breathe. I was gasping for air," Marcelina Perez said while recounting how Alika Kaniho-Batoon applied pressure on her neck while he was on top of her on a bed. "When I did get air, I wanted to leave and he would not let me out of the door."

Perez, 41, testified at a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Lanai District Court, convening in Wailuku, for Kaniho-Batoon, 23, who is facing charges including attempted murder.

Perez said she and Kaniho-Batoon recently broke up after dating since last year.

When she returned to her residence on Ilima Avenue at 11:45 p.m. Feb. 16, he was there and locked her in the bedroom where he sleeps, she said.

"There's no electricity, so it was pitch black," she said. "He had a little flashlight. He kept flashing it on and off directly in my face."

Perez said she was standing when Kaniho-Batoon grabbed the front of her neck and they ended up on the bed before he let her go. She said she tried to open the door, which had multiple locks, but he held the top of the door.

"I was yelling, screaming," she said.

Then they were sitting on the bed and talking "when he got really angry," she said.

"He started saying, 'I'm going to kill you,' " Perez said. "He told me that twice."

She said Kaniho-Batoon grabbed her neck with both hands and pushed her down on the bed.

"And that's when he put a lot of pressure," she said. "I was kicking and trying to get him off me. I couldn't breathe."

She said she lost control of her bladder for a second time.

Eventually, he let go of her, Perez said, and she again tried to open the door. "I pulled the door hard enough to where it ripped open," she said.

"I ran outside. I ran down the sidewalk," she said. "He came running after me. He jumped over the porch, chased me about a block and a half. I just ran straight to the police station."

When the emergency button at the station didn't work, she said she ran to her residence and, with her roommate, called police.

Lanai patrol officer Matthew Segault responded to the call at 12:30 a.m. Feb. 17 and spoke with Perez.

"She looked very upset," he testified. "She looked like she had been crying. She had visible injuries to her neck area."

He said he saw broken blood vessels under her eyes and an injury on her hand that she said was a bite mark.

Perez said she had a sore throat, raspy voice and bruising on her neck. She also said she was "extremely dizzy."

She estimated that Kaniho-Batoon had grabbed her neck and throat area for a total of "30 seconds at least" that night.

In a statement to police at 10:17 a.m. Feb. 17, Kaniho-Batoon said he and Perez had gotten into an argument in the bedroom and she scratched his face and kicked him in the groin, said Sgt. Kimberly Masse, who testified by videoconference from Lanai.

Kaniho-Batoon "said he didn't strangle her, he was just trying to push her away," Masse said.

He also said that "she started to have a panic attack" and he was trying to calm her down, Masse said.

Kaniho-Batoon also relayed that "after that they kissed and made up and she went to get food and drink," Masse said.

She said Kaniho-Batoon denied chasing Perez.

"He said Perez is known for hurting herself and blaming other people," Masse said.

Deputy Prosecutor Shelly Miyashiro argued that when Kaniho-Batoon grabbed Perez's throat "to the point where she could not breathe, where she lost control of her bladder, he took a substantial step to bring her closer to death."

Miyashiro cited Dr. William Kepler's testimony that external pressure to the neck would stop air flow so someone would lose consciousness after about 10 seconds and a few seconds later lose bladder control.

"The defendant did not stop after the first time he strangled her," Miyashiro said. "He prevented her from opening or unlocking the door by holding it at the top. He then strangled her again."

Defense attorney Peter Simon said the evidence didn't support probable cause for the attempted murder charge, saying there were inconsistencies in Perez's statements to police.

He also cited a statement to police from a neighbor who reported hearing "a bloodcurdling scream and banging" at the house that night but didn't hear Perez screaming for help, as she testified she had been.

"Obviously, something happened in that room, but there's nothing to substantiate -- in fact, there's evidence to the contrary of the state's case," Simon said.

Judge Kirstin Hamman referred to testimony by Perez and Dr. Kepler in finding there was sufficient evidence for the charges of second-degree attempted murder, kidnapping, two counts of felony abuse by strangulation and first-degree terroristic threatening against Kaniho-Batoon.

He was being held in lieu of $71,000 bail at the Maui Community Correctional Center.

He was set to be arraigned March 3 in 2nd Circuit Court.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.