HI: ‘No excuse’: Man sentenced for killing beloved pet pig during hunting contest

https://www.kktv.com/2025/04/17/no-excuse-man-sentenced-killing-beloved-pet-pig-during-hunting-contest/

04/17/2025

A Maui man who admitted to killing a beloved pet pig and then lying about it to win a hunting contest will be spending a night in jail.

About three dozen people came to a Wailuku courthouse on Wednesday for Jayden Jarnesky-Magana’s animal cruelty case.

They shouted, “No excuse for animal abuse” and “Protect our pets” at a rally before the sentencing hearing.

The 19-year-old pleaded no contest to charges of animal cruelty, theft and criminal property damage in the killing of Eddie the pig.

“He was my treasured pet, a therapy pet to many, and he is and was always our sanctuary mascot,” Eddie’s owner, Sarah Haynes, shared in court.

Haynes said her 250-pound pet was taken from his pen at the Kitty Charm Farm in Haiku on May 11, 2024.

She didn’t know what happened to Eddie until she started receiving messages on social media.

“I received videos of dogs going after Eddie. Pictures of him being gutted and hung from a tree in a homemade rap music video with two men,” Haynes said.

Jarnesky-Magana later admitted to being one of the hunters in the video, authorities said. He and co-defendant Krys-Ryan Saito Carino entered the kill into a Makawao feral pig hunting contest and claimed the first-place prize of $1,000.

“It was a fraud on the family who put together the hunting contest and tried to run an honest event,” Deputy Prosecutor Mica Metter said. “And it was a fraud to the other hunters who entered the contest who tried to do it the right way.”

Jarnesky-Magana did not address the court. Instead, his attorney, Wendy Hudson, read his written statement for the judge.

“I would like to start by saying that I’ve made a mistake and it was not intentional. I’ve learned a lesson and I’m not a bad kid. I’ve always been a good kid and never gotten in any trouble,” Hudson shared.

Jarnesky-Magana faced up to 10 years for all of the charges. The judge instead sentenced him to four years of probation and one night in jail.

“I think that’s appropriate. That will teach you, hopefully deter you from engaging in any further criminal activity,” Circuit Court Judge Kirstin Hamman said. “And I think it sends the proper message regarding the nature of the crime that was committed.”

Haynes added, “I really hope that this is enough of a lesson to have him not just act appropriately but maybe think appropriately. I’m glad that he left today in handcuffs and that he’s at least getting some time.”

A trial for co-defendant Krys-Ryan Saito Carino is scheduled to begin on April 28.