Prosecutors lacked evidence
in tourist death case

Answer: The 68-year-old Nanakuli driver of the Chevy Blazer was charged with third-degree negligent homicide, which is simple negligence.

The Prosecutor's Office did not prosecute the case because of a lack of evidence to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, said Jim Fulton, executive assistant to the city prosecutor.

During the Aug. 26, 2000, accident, the driver apparently blacked out and struck the Japanese family at a bus stop on Kamehameha Highway near Aloha Stadium, Fulton said.

The SUV cut across the highway's median and four lanes of traffic.

It crashed into a bus stop, where the Japanese family, two German visitors and a couple from New Jersey were waiting.

The 38-year-old woman, Konomi Nakagawa of Gifu prefecture, Japan, died. Her 40-year-old husband, Shinji Nakagawa, and 11-year-old son, Hiroto, were initially in critical condition, but their conditions improved.

Their two daughters, Yuki, 13, and Miki, 9, were hospitalized in stable condition and released two days later.

The German visitors were taken to Queen's Medical Center, where they were treated and released, while the New Jersey visitors escaped injury.

The driver was hospitalized in fair condition.

Police investigators turned the case over to the Prosecutor's Office in November 2001. Prosecutors sent the case back requesting more information. The Prosecutor's Office declined the case in July 2002.