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Driver gets one-year
sentence in death of
Waianae boy, 10'I pray that someday he can forgive me,'
By Steve Murray
he tells the victim's mother
Star-BulletinThe man who killed a 10-year-old Waianae boy in a traffic incident wept as he was sentenced to a year in prison and four years of probation.
Victor Valoroso, 19, cried throughout the proceeding in Circuit Court this morning. He plead no contest to negligent homicide in April for causing the death of Jerry Kekahuna on Farrington Highway on Dec. 14, 1998.
Valoroso apologized in court for the incident and addressed Kekahuna's family.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Kekahuna, for killing your son," he said. "I never meant to kill him and I pray that someday he can forgive me."
Kekahuna's mother, her voice breaking, described her son as a fun-loving kid with a dream to become a professional boxer. She said his death has been extremely hard on her other children. "I know they are hurting, but they won't ever talk about it," she said.
Kekahuna was walking to an after-school boxing program with his brother when Valoroso's pickup truck struck him.
Witnesses said Valoroso ran a red light, and a police investigation determined Valoroso was driving 57 miles per hour in a 20 mile per hour zone.
Valoroso's attorney, Myles Breiner, asked for a sentence of less than five years in jail, noting, "From the day he hit Jerry Kekahuna, Victor Valoroso has not denied anything."
Valoroso stared at his hands, and family members from both sides wiped their eyes while deputy prosecutor Keith Sato described him as a dangerous individual with no regard for the safety of others. "Victor Valoroso took Jerry Kekahuna's life away like a cheap bet but he didn't care," he said.
Valoroso's father Steven Sr., asked Kekahuna's family for forgiveness, saying he understands what it feels like to loose a child. On December 16, 1996, the Valoroso's oldest son, Steven Jr., was killed when he was thrown from a car near the same intersection.
As he pronounced the sentence, Judge Michael Town said Valoroso was "clearly a compulsive person" who acted without thinking of the consequences of his actions.
