HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
DETECTIVE GREG ESTEBAN
PHONE: 961-2384
FEBRUARY 15, 2000
G-19963/NH
MEDIA RELEASE
A four-year-old girl died Friday (February 11, 2000) after she apparently was trampled by a horse in the Skilled Camp area of Ookala in North Hilo.
She was identified as Chasity Cardoza-Salomon, who was accompanying her father and two other children, both family members, while he attempted to move the horse to another location. According to witnesses, the horse got away momentarily and either kicked or stepped on the victim.
The preliminary results of an autopsy Tuesday (February 15 2000) determined that the girl died of trauma to the back of her head consistent with being stepped on or kicked by a horse.
Responding to a 4:30 p.m. call, fire rescue personnel tried to revive the girl, but were unsuccessful. She was taken to the North Hawaii Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m.
The case, originally classified as a coroner’s inquest, has been reclassified as a public accident.
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