DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Denise Noa was overcome with emotion yesterday when she stopped at the accident site.
Birthday celebration All Elizabeth "Momi" Askew has left are her 12-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son.
turned to nightmare
One of Momi Askew's sons
Hawaii's worst accidents
had just turned 21; another son
was among five who diedBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comLast June, her husband, Amaldo "Mel" Delizo Askew, 41, committed suicide. Yesterday, her other two children were killed in a single-car crash that killed five people in Haleiwa.
The crash occurred about 1:30 a.m. along Kamehameha Highway near Kawailoa Drive.
Three carloads of family and friends were returning to Waialua from a celebration at Shark's Cove.
"It was Patrick's 21st birthday and we just went out to check out the water," she said.
In a blue Honda sedan were two of her sons, Patrick Askew-Jackson, 21, and Kaimana Askew-Jackson, 13.
Also in the Honda were Jose Delizo, 17, Askew's nephew; Rex Dicion, 37; and Shannon Waiwaiole, 22, identified as the driver.
The Honda was behind Askew's car when a third car, in which her other son, niece and two others were riding, passed them both. Then Waiwaiole's car raced past hers.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Flowers, pictures and beer bottles were left behind by mourners.
"The third car overtook Shannon, and Shannon wanted to overtake it back," Askew said.
From a distance, Askew saw Waiwaiole's car veer to the left, then she saw the brake lights from the other car.
When she reached the crash scene, Askew said, there was a cloud of smoke. Her 19-year-old son was running back from the third car, farther up the highway.
But Askew kept her distance.
"I just saw my son hanging out the car," she said. "I refused to come closer to the car. I had two of them in there."
When police arrived, they confirmed Askew's fears: Everyone in the Honda was dead.
Waiwaiole was ejected and landed about 30 feet from the wreckage.
Patrick was the one hanging out of the car from the front passenger seat. Kaimana and Delizo were found hugging each other in the back seat.
Police confirmed what Askew already knew: None of the occupants was wearing seat belts.
Askew said Delizo and Dicion were her neighbors in the close-knit Paalaa Kai subdivision in Waialua.
Police said the Honda was speeding on Kamehameha Highway when the driver lost control, veered onto the mauka shoulder and crashed into a palm tree.
The car's speedometer was frozen at 80 mph.
Based on what they found at the crash site, traffic investigators determined that alcohol use on the part of the driver, in addition to speeding, was a factor in the crash, said Lt. Bennett Martin, Honolulu Police Traffic Division. Martin would not provide details.
CRAIG KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
The wrecked car was brought to Glenn's Towing in Waialua.
Askew said Patrick and his friends were celebrating his birthday Monday before they went to Shark's Cove.
"They were drinking, but they were not drunk," she said.
Word of the fatal crash spread quickly through the North Shore community.
By about 3 p.m. yesterday, there were 40 friends and relatives at the crash site crying and hugging one another, or simply standing helplessly.
Mary Tampon, 37, of Ewa lost three nephews in the crash. She watched throngs of young women crying as they stood around the memorial made of the tree that killed them. The sister of one victim sobbed as she smoothed her hand over a picture of her brother.
A group of young men drinking Heineken beer brooded over another smaller memorial near a barbed-wire fence. This was where Waiwaiole's body landed after the crash.
White sand from the beach had been poured over the spot and a stalk of red ginger was laid on top, along with a white ginger lei.
"These kids gotta learn to be careful," said Tampon, her eyes glassy with tears that spilled over her cheeks.
"A lot of innocent lives were lost because they like the speed and they think they have control," she said. "But they don't have control. They just think they have control."
Another family member, Lisa Holomua, 36, of Haleiwa said: "This was senseless. Five innocent lives lost."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Friends of the crash victims stopped by the accident site yesterday to drink a toast.
Tampon's brother, John, was angry. When he arrived at the crash site about 3:30 p.m., he threw his sunglasses at the tree decorated with flowers, photos and notes. He refused to talk to reporters.
At one point, eight friends sat on the ground in a circle around the memorial where Waiwaiole's body landed. The young men sat with heads bowed, talking among themselves, drinking Heineken beer. Some pulled up handfuls of grass out of grief or anger.
The uncle of Patrick Askew-Jackson walked over to them with a can of Bud Light, and let his anger flow into a life lecture.
"You boys neva learn. You have to stop playing around and take things serious."
Star-Bulletin reporter Sally Apgar contributed to this report. BACK TO TOP |
>> Nov. 9, 1995: Five people were killed and three were hurt when the speeding car carrying all eight crashed into a wall and overturned on Kalanianaole Highway in Kuliouou. Some of Hawaii's
worst accidents>> Jan. 21, 1994: Five people died when a van plunged off a 40-foot embankment near Keawaula Bay (Yokohama Bay) and burned on the beach.
>> June 9, 1988: Five people died and three were injured when a speeding car crashed head-on into a tourists' van on Kalanianaole Highway at Makapuu.
>> 1988: Six people in a station wagon died when the car they were in collided with a pickup truck that crossed the center line of Queen Kaahumanu Highway near Kawaihae on the Big Island.
>> Nov. 24, 1979: Five Brigham Young University-Hawaii students died and four people were hurt when a compact car and a pickup truck collided on Kamehameha Highway near Haleiwa.
>> July 5, 1969: Six people were killed and four were injured in a two-car crash at Puuloa Road and Kamehameha Highway.
