HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
OFFICER CHRISTOPHER GALI
PHONE: 961-2332
JUNE 19, 2000
G-32420
MEDIA RELEASE
A 16-year-old girl died Sunday (June 18, 2000) of injuries she suffered in a single-car accident on Ainako Street in Hilo.
The victim was identified as Kailani Ishibashi.
Responding to a 2:07 a.m. call, police officers determined that Ishibashi’s 1990 Honda accord was traveling north on Ainako when she lost control of the car, which struck a driveway abutment and ended up in a ditch on the mauka side of the road.
Ishibashi was taken to the Hilo Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition, then flown to Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where she was pronounced dead at 10:09 p.m.
Her sister, Kauai Ishibashi, 14, a front-seat passenger in the vehicle, was injured in the accident. She is listed in satisfactory condition at the Hilo hospital.
Police have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of Kailani Ishibashi’s death.
Speed was believed to have been a factor in the accident.
Ishibashi’s death was the 18th traffic fatality so far this year on the Big Island, compared to 10 at the same time last year.
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