HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. GALI
PHONE: 961-2332
AUGUST 17, 2005

MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE

A six-year-old boy died Wednesday (August 17, 2005) of injuries he suffered when struck by a car the day before in Paradise, Puna.

The victim was identified as Kaimana Kepa, of a Paradise Park address.

Kepa was pronounced dead at 11:34 a.m. at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where he had been flown Tuesday in critical condition.

Responding to a 3:50 p.m. call Tuesday, Puna Patrol officers learned that the boy was running across Makuu Drive between 31st and 32nd Avenues when he was struck by a Mazda sedan driven makai by a 22-year-old male.

The injured boy was taken to the Hilo Medical Center and then flown to Queen’s.

Police have initiated a standard negligent homicide investigation into the death and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Because the death occurred on a private road, it was not classified as a traffic fatality for statistical purposes.

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