Mom and Partner Face Horrifying Abuse Allegations Involving Sticks and Paddles After 3-Year-Old Dies

A Hawaii mother and her girlfriend are accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter and then blaming the child’s death on the victim’s 5-year-old brother, authorities say.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, Janae Perez, 25, and her partner, Ashleigh Utley, 33, of Honolulu, were arrested and charged with a host of crimes including second-degree murder, kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a minor in connection with the June 2024 death of Perez’s daughter, Sarai Perez, according to online court records.

They are also accused of starving and abusing Perez’s three other children, according to online court records.

“Through the investigation, it was learned that Janae and Ashley limited Sarai’s and (her siblings’) intake of water and food,” Honolulu Police Department Lt. Deena Thoemmes said at a press conference Thursday evening, Hawaii News Now reports. “Janae and Ashley did not allow them to eat often and only allowed them to drink eight ounces of water a day.”

On Feb. 24, 2025, a forensic pathologist confirmed that Sarai’s cause of death was due to dehydration and starvation, according to KHON 2.

Thoemmes said the couple would allegedly hit the children with their hands, sticks and paddles all over their bodies, including on their faces and heads.

“The day after Sarai’s death, Janae and Ashleigh blamed Janae’s 5-year-old son, telling him it was his fault. It has been determined that on the night of the incident, Sarai’s brother did not hurt [the victim],” she said, KHON 2 reports.

The child’s death came to light just before 7 p.m. on June 13, 2024, when Honolulu Police Officers responded to a call about an unresponsive 3-year-old girl who was in cardiac arrest when they arrived, according to the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

The toddler, later identified as Sarai, had no pulse and was “ashen” when officers found her, according to the complaint. She was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Perez told police she was making dinner for her children, ages 6, 5, 3, and 2, when she allegedly saw one of Sarai’s siblings “punching and kicking” the girl while she was on the ground, the complaint alleges.

Shortly after, Perez said she found Sarai unresponsive on the living room floor and called 911.

One of the officers who went to the hospital where Sarai was taken noticed “dark bruising” all over her body, including her legs, abdomen, right cheek and buttocks, the complaint alleges.

The three other children were taken to the hospital and treated for extreme dehydration.

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In the week before Sarai died, she had been sick with a cold and a cough. On the day the girl died, she wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t eat, but Utley allegedly dismissed that, calling Sarai “a whiner,” the complaint says.

Utley also informed detectives that Perez’s mother made what she termed a “frivolous complaint” to Child Welfare Services (CWS) because she believed Perez and Utley weren’t feeding the children, it says.

Utley said they used to spank the children as discipline, but had stopped doing that, opting instead to feed the children fish and sauerkraut as a punishment, the complaint alleges.

Asked if the children were denied food, Utley replied, “Hell, no, did you see our cabinets? We have a lot of food,” the complaint alleges.

Sarai’s siblings are in the care of CWS.

Attorneys for Perez and Utley were not immediately reachable.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.