CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM A blue cross and flowers marked yesterday where two teenagers were killed and two were injured when their car went airborne and crashed into a canal at Kalaeloa.

Community mourns 2 lost in crash

'At least give me one son': The father of one of the victims says he prayed for at least one of his sons to be spared

When Lester Kim was driving to the hospital after hearing that two of his sons were in a bad traffic crash in Kalaeloa, he prayed at least one would still be alive.

Ronald Kim survived, and his brother Leslie Kim died in the Monday night crash.

"I prayed for both, but I prayed, 'At least give me one son,'" Kim said. "The whole car is totaled except where Ronald was sitting. So he protected my son, one of them."

Two teenagers were killed when their car went airborne and crashed into a canal at Kalaeloa, the old Barbers Point Naval Air Station.

Lester Kim identified the other as 18-year-old Tanya House, the driver's girlfriend and a recent graduate of Kapolei High School.

The other two were injured, including his son Ronald, 14, and the driver, a 19-year-old man, Daniel Rebujio.

Police said there were four teenagers in a 1993 Nissan 240SX traveling at a high rate of speed along Roosevelt Avenue at 11:01 p.m. The driver kept going even though he had reached the Waianae-bound end of the road, just past Boxer Road, police said.

The Nissan launched off the end of Roosevelt and landed in the canal, police said.

The impact of the landing caused head and neck injuries to the front-seat passenger, identified as an 18-year-old woman, and head and internal injuries to Leslie Kim, the rear, right-side passenger. Both had to be extracted from the car and were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Kim said he spoke with his son Ronald about the accident.

"They were all drinking" in the parking lot of an abandoned hospital at what was Barbers Point Naval Air Station, Kim said.

The driver was in a "very bad mood" and had been arguing with House before the accident, Kim said.

The driver was speeding in a dangerous, unlit area, he said. "The road just stops and there's a ravine," Kim said.

Ronald Kim made the initial call using the driver's cell phone, phoning his friend Justin.

"He shook Tanya and Leslie, trying to wake them up, but they were dead already, so he climbed out," Lester Kim said.

Paramedics took the driver to the Queen's Medical Center in serious but stable condition* with chest and internal injuries. Ronald, who sat in the left, rear seat, was taken to Queen's with minor injuries, was treated and released*. Meanwhile, "Tanya and Leslie were still inside the car," Kim said.

Police said all of the teenagers were wearing seat restraints except for Leslie Kim.

The crash marks the 55th and 56th traffic fatalities of the year, compared with 50 fatalities at the same time last year.

Friends of Leslie Kim, who was to begin his junior year at Kapolei High School on Friday, offered flowers and their condolences to the family.

Lester Kim hugged the boys, then gave them a stern warning: "Let it be a lesson, you guys. Two people died. If you guys still no understand, what a shame. Time for everybody to grow up. I know Ronald going change."

Kim said Leslie had just received his drivers license last month and it was the only recent picture he could find. He drove his dad's truck when the two would go golfing.

Leslie "likes to clown around," he said, and loved rap music.

The two boys were close to their father before they began spending more time with friends.

"Us three used to do a lot together -- movies, never did miss a carnival or fair," he said.