The family of a Nuuanu woman who was killed by a boulder while she was sleeping last summer has filed a lawsuit against the property owners above their home. Family files lawsuit
over boulder deathThe suit alleges that owners
of land above the Onishi home
are guilty of negligenceBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comDara Onishi, 26, was killed when a 5-by-5-foot boulder rolled down a steep hillside and crashed into her bedroom at 2527-A Henry St. in the early morning hours of Aug. 9.
Onishi's parents, Patrick and Gail, and younger brother, Blaine, were also home at the time but were not injured.
The wrongful-death lawsuit alleges that the owners of the property where the boulder originated, listed as Vance and Hiroko Vaughan, of the Vance Vaughan Revocable Trust, are guilty of negligence after they "failed to assess the stability of the Vaughan property and failed to conduct any reasonable inspection or risk assessment of the property for dangerous conditions."
The lawsuit alleges that prior to the boulder crashing into the Onishi home, the defendants made "extensive and substantial physical alterations to the natural condition of the mountainside," and that in turn "increased the risk that the terrain of the mountainside would be loosened unnaturally."
On Aug. 30, attorney Stephen Hisaka, who represented the Vaughans, said a second boulder that threatened Nuuanu homes below was broken apart and removed.
Patrick Onishi had earlier said his family was not interested in pursuing damages from the landowners through legal means.
The lawsuit asks for damages to be revealed at trial along with court costs for the plaintiff.
Neither the attorney for the Onishis nor the attorney for the Vaughans could be reached for comment yesterday.