Fatal stabbing of nurse at the Hawaii State Hospital shocks administrators
By Kristen Consillio
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HAWAII (KITV) — Tommy Kekoa Carvalho was considered clinically sane and ready to transition back into the community when he snapped.
“We did not see evidence that this was going to happen,” said Hawaii State Hospital Administrator Kenneth Luke. “This seemed to be an unanticipated and unprovoked incident.”
Carvalho was discharged from the Hawaii State Hospital back in August and was living in state-run transitional housing when police say he stabbed 29-year-old Justin Bautista multiple times. Bautista was pronounced dead at the scene.
“What happened yesterday is tragic and extremely saddening,” said State Health Director Dr. Kenneth Fink.
The transitional program is separate from the hospital and Carvalho gained privileges to leave the campus, which he actually did on the day of the killing.
“Whether or not in the process of evaluating his ability to be to be a good citizen, and releasing him to the community, how that evaluation occurred without seeing the signs of any violent tendencies is really the issue,” said state Sen. Joy San Buenaventura, the chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
Besides clinical teams, the courts granted permission for Carvalho to move out of the psychiatric facility.
But the residential program with 24-hour supervision and treatment in the daytime isn’t as secure as the new state-of-the-art hospital.
“It’s considered more of a group home, therefore the security procedures are not robust like the hospital,” Luke added.
Administrators said they’ve since moved patients and increased staffing in the transitional home.
They’re also reevaluating all policies and procedures to ensure safety.
And they hope the murder will not prevent patients from getting back into society.
“If this tragedy stops individuals from being transitioned to the proper level of care, if it ends up with people being left to being institutionalized at Hawaii State Hospital, then it’s a double tragedy,” Luke said.
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