A Salt Lake City man was sentenced to prison Friday for driving around concrete barriers and onto FrontRunner tracks last year, where a train rammed the passenger side of his Jeep and killed his pregnant girlfriend.
Before being sentenced, Nephi Adelino Makaya’s sister stood before 3rd District Judge Ann Boyden and told her how much she loves her brother. She then asked Boyden to sentence him to prison.
“We love you Nephi,” she turned to her brother, shackled and in jail garb, to say. “We want you to serve this time and become the man we always wanted you to be.”
Makaya, 26, was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison for second-degree felony manslaughter in the July 25, 2016, death of 30-year-old Kaipaofakiuiha Sateki Kinikini, the mother of two of his children.
Kinikini, who was 8 months pregnant at the time, was taken to University Hospital, where an emergency C-section was performed, charges state.
The fetus survived, but the girl was deprived of oxygen for a prolonged amount of time and is now experiencing health problems. The young girl, named after her mother, was in court Friday. Family members said she had made strides in her health, but still struggled with issues related to the crash and how she was born.
According to court documents, Makaya was driving a Jeep on July 25, 2016, when he approached crossing arms blocking his path across train tracks at a crossing on 900 South 600 West in Salt Lake City.
Rather than wait for the coming train to pass and the arms to lift, Makaya drove around a concrete median and then went west in an eastbound lane and onto the train tracks.
The train T-boned the Jeep, hitting the passenger side where Kinikini was sitting.
Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Sandi Johnson said in court that Makaya was driving parallel to the train prior to the accident. He knew right where it was.
“He was trying to beat that train,” Johnson said.
Blood tests show Makaya had methamphetamine and marijuana in his system at the time of the accident, though that did not prove he was intoxicated, and he was not charged with driving while intoxicated.
According to testimony from family, Makaya and Kinikini both abused drugs while they were together.
On Nov. 30, Makaya was found guilty of manslaughter and driving on a suspended license, a class C misdemeanor.
A jury convicted him of manslaughter charge, while the suspended license charge was overseen by a judge during a bench trial.
Citations for no proof of insurance and failing to register a vehicle were dismissed following trial. A restitution amount to be determined later was imposed.
At sentencing, 22 people were in attendance — a mix of Makaya’s and Kinikini’s families. Many gave statements. Often, their words were mixed with sobs as the entire courtroom appeared emotional, the judge included.
One of Kinikini’s sisters said she grew up being taught to love unconditionally. Part of that is forgiveness, she said.
“All that I ask of you is to be a better man from this day forward,” she said. “Be a better father. Come see your children.”
Another of Kinikini’s sisters told the judge of the hatred she felt for Makaya after the accident. A week after her sister’s death, she went to the hospital to see Makaya.
“Your honor, I went there to end his life,” she told Boyden.
But upon seeing him, she said she forgave Makaya.
Makaya’s mother also spoke, saying it wasn’t the first time she had explained her son’s circumstances to a judge, but she hoped it would be her last. She said Makaya always had behavioral issues and displayed violent tendencies starting at 3 years old.
She took him to doctors, who suggested medicating the boy starting at 5 years old. She declined due to a family with a history of addiction, but now regrets her decision, she said.
The woman pleaded with Boyden to impose some sort of mental health counseling while he is in prison.
Makaya also stood to say he was sorry and that he had lost the love of his life. He cried as he apologized to Kinikini’s family, and his own, for the trouble he has caused.
After handing down her sentence, Boyden said this case was different than most she sees where someone causes the death of another, which make’s Utah’s indeterminate sentencing structure appropriate. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide how much of the one-to-15-year term Makaya serves behind bars.
“There is no question that you are deeply remorseful,” the judge said.