Kaniho-Batoon
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.