COURTESY PHOTO Saydee Miller, here with her mother, Kanani Washington, died after a crash.

---

Grandpa mourns baby
killed in accident

CORRECTION Saturday, September 17, 2005 » Donations to the family of Saydee Miller, the 10-month-old baby killed in a car crash near Waimea Bay, and her grandmother Rhonda Teixeira may be mailed to Friends of Saydee and Rhonda, P.O. Box 701133, Kapolei, HI 96709. Donations should not be dropped off at American Savings Bank branches as reported yesterday in a Page A4 story. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

At 10 months, Saydee Miller was a happy, energetic baby girl loved by a big ohana.

"There ain't enough words to describe this girl," said her grandfather Darin Awong. "Happy, loving, cuddling, you just want to pinch her cheeks."

Saydee died yesterday from head and neck injuries she received in a car crash at 9:10 p.m. Monday on Kamehameha Highway near Waimea Bay. Saydee was in a child-restraint seat in the front seat, next to her grandmother and driver Rhonda Teixeira, who is at home recovering from a fractured sternum, leg and hip injuries.

Police suspect the 55-year-old North Shore driver of a white Dodge van was drinking and speeding. The man crossed the center line and drove head-on into the Honda sedan, police said. The van driver was reported to be in serious condition, and his passengers -- a boy, 12, and a man, 20 -- were in fair condition. The case is being investigated, police said.

Teixeira, who is Awong's ex-wife, told him she was heading home to Waialua when she swerved to avoid the van on a rainy highway.

Awong said he was hurt by news stories that reported baby seats should be in the back seat of a car. In Hawaii it is legal to have a child in a child-restraint seat on the front seat of a vehicle. He said he could see Teixeira's reasoning, especially when there is only one adult in the car.

"It makes it easier to tend to the child," said Awong, who has a daughter two weeks older than Saydee was. "If you're a single parent, how do you get assistance while driving if she's crying or needs a bottle? Of course you pull off the road," he said, adding that such a move can be dangerous sometimes.

Judging from the severe damage to the car, Awong said he thinks the baby would have died if she were in the back seat.

"There is no really safe, secure place for a baby seat," he added.

Saydee was with her grandmother because her mother, 20-year-old Kanani Washington, is boarding at the Hawaii Job Corps, where she is taking classes. Washington spent the weekends with Saydee, Awong said.

"Everybody in the family loves her," he said. "Everybody had a hand in taking care of her."

Awong, a former heavy drinker who has laid off alcohol for four years, said he wants to make people aware of what can happen when drinking and driving mix.

"We can choose to do the right thing and not get behind the wheel, or we can choose the wrong thing and live with it for the rest of your life," he said.

Awong said he has forgiven the driver "because it's the right thing to do."

To help defray medical and funeral expenses, checks or money orders can be made to "Friends of Saydee and Rhonda" and mailed to P.O. Box 701133, Kapolei 96709, or dropped off at any American Savings Bank branch.