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.
# # #
