HILO, Hawai'i — George Tadeo, 32, his wife and surviving children wonder what his daughter, Kau'ilani, would be like now, and how she would look.

She was 6 when she was murdered in an abandoned house in Puna in 2001.

After her death, they pursued a civil suit against the killer and his family, seeking, Tadeo said, a kind of closure and a kind of justice.

The family yesterday was awarded a $2.7 million court judgment against Mark Davis Jr. and his parents, Mark Daniel Davis and Ellen Pearl Davis.

Mark Davis Jr., now 18, admitted in 2005 that he sexually assaulted and killed the child and was committed to the Hawai'i State Hospital in Kane'ohe. Davis was 14 when he stalked and killed Kau'ilani Tadeo, a Keonepoko Elementary School first-grader, with a blow to the head in the Hawaiian Beaches subdivision, authorities said.

Joy San Buenaventura, the lawyer for Kau'ilani's parents, argued Davis' parents also were responsible for the girl's death because they failed to supervise the boy properly, and because Davis allegedly learned to be sexually violent in his parents' home.

Davis was left unsupervised the day of the slaying — Davis' parents could not be found for hours after the murder — and police found evidence of extensive viewing of violent pornography in the house, San Buenaventura said. Police also found marijuana in the home, she said.

San Buenaventura said DNA evidence proved Davis sexually assaulted the girl. Davis' father, Mark Daniel Davis, told The Advertiser in a 2001 interview that his son denied any involvement in the murder. The father also said testing showed his son had an IQ of 45 and said the youth has the mental faculties of a 5-year-old.

"For a mentally retarded child to do this kind of crime requires learned behavior, and where else could he learn it, except from the circumstances in the house?" San Buenaventura said yesterday.

Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura yesterday entered a default judgment against Davis and his parents after the parents failed to respond to a series of court filings.

The estate of Kau'ilani Tadeo was awarded $500,000 in general damages and $750,000 in punitive damages, while Kau'ilani's parents were awarded $750,000 each in general damages.

It is unlikely the Tadeo family will ever collect. San Buenaventura said the last known address for the Davis family was in Michigan, and she asked for the public's help in finding them.

George Tadeo said the judgment confirmed his family's belief that it was Davis' parents who were responsible for their son's actions. Tadeo said the Davis family knew what sort of boy they had raised.

"I just wanted to get back at them the legal way," he said. "I felt like they needed to watch that boy. They needed to get help for that kid, and they never did it. For me, I think it's fair for us to go after the parents and hold them responsible for their child's actions."

The Tadeo family moved to Texas for a time, but missed the Islands. They finally made the difficult move back to Hawaiian Beaches and the house where George Tadeo grew up, and where Kau'ilani lived.

Tadeo had always thought of the neighborhood as close-knit and safe, but now things seem different. Kau'ilani's mother, Tumata Tadeo, said she almost wants to lock her five sons in the house to keep them safe.

George Tadeo said he and his wife live with the memory of their daughter and the things they did together, and said the family will never be able to put the murder behind them.

Tadeo said his two oldest sons, 11 and 8, remember Kau'ilani and sometimes talk about her.

"Every time I see my son playing, and I turn around and he isn't there, I get anxiety. I have a hard time letting them play now like I used to," Tadeo said. "I cannot trust. It's scary."

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.