Shyann Rivera says she is the biological mother of 6-year-old BK Engilo, a 6-year-old boy who died under suspicious circumstances on Halloween.

Rivera said even though she hasn’t seen BK since he was adopted over a year ago, she was devastated by the news and wants answers.

“He was smart. He was really smart. He was a really good kid. He liked playing basketball. He was really special,” said Rivera as she described the fond memories she has of BK.

Investigators said BK was unresponsive when he was brought to the Kailua-Kona fire station at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, then taken to Kona Community Hospital where he died an hour later.

They said his injuries were not consistent with an accident.

Rivera said she’s still in shock and wants to know what happened.

“I want them to find out what happened to my son. I want justice for him,” Rivera said. “There’s so many stories that I’m hearing, so I’m not sure which is the truth. We’re trying to figure that out. We’ve been told that he collided with another child and fell down, and by the time they got to him, he was unconscious. There’s other stories where he was choked.”

She says not knowing is the hardest part: “I’m still in shock. I want answers. I want the truth.”

Rivera adds that she’s also worried about Engilo’s twin brother and her other three kids.

“I know they’re hurting. I wish I was there for them, but I tried and I want them to know that it’s not their fault what happened to their brother and that we all love them,” she said.

KHON2 reached out to Engilo’s adopted mother, but she has not responded.

Detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigation Division are continuing their investigation into the child’s death.

Police are seeking witnesses who were in the area of the apartment complex, who may have witnessed a commotion at the apartment complex in the 74-900 block of Manawalea Street in Kailua-Kona, to contact Detective Jerome Manuel at (808) 326-4646 ext. 262 or via email at jerome.manuel@hawaiicounty.gov or call the department’s non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311.