ROBERT SHIKINA / RSHIKINA@STARBULLETIN.COM May Magarro and her father, Loreto, struggled with the loss of Paena Magarro, May's mother, who was killed by an alleged drunken driver yesterday while crossing a road in Kailua.

Family mourns death of woman in Kailua

Paena Magarro dies after being hit by a car while trying to cross Kailua Road

Paena Magarro's husband and daughter comforted each other after the Kailua woman was struck and killed by an allegedly drunken driver before dawn yesterday.

"You try not to dwell on it, otherwise you go kind of nuts," May Magarro said in a telephone interview as her father paced in the room. "I'm trying to let him not think about it, either. We're coping in our own ways."

Paena Magarro, 69, was hit by a Geo Metro at about 5:15 a.m. as she tried to cross Kailua Road from the Ulumanu Drive intersection to get to a bus stop.

The driver, 37, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant. He was later released pending investigation.

Lt. Darren Izumo of the police Traffic Safety Division said the suspect strongly smelled of alcohol and that his behavior indicated he was drunk. He was convicted of driving under the influence in January 2004 and paid a $150 fine. He also spent two months in prison for a family abuse conviction in March 2005.

The suspect was driving Kailua-bound when his car ran into Magarro, who was not in a crosswalk.

Rescue crews took Magarro in critical condition to Castle Medical Center where she later died, authorities said.

May Magarro, 34, said she was upset because the driver was drunk.

"I don't hate him yet," said Magarro, a caretaker for her 77-year-old father, Loreto. "I don't know if it just hasn't sunk in yet. I just wish he'd thought more about his actions so that it wouldn't have happened."

Magarro's mother was heading to her housekeeping job at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where she had worked for more than 30 years.

She often jaywalked at the same area where she was struck because the crosswalk was a little out of the way, her daughter said. In addition, the bus driver would stop for a moment where Magarro was crossing to wait for her if she was not at the bus stop.

Only moments before the crash, Magarro's husband had helped her cook and pack her breakfast, which she usually ate with co-workers at the hotel. He and his daughter were asleep when police woke them up.

Magarro was born in the Philippines and came to Hawaii in the early 1970s.

She enjoyed her job because of the people, some of whom called to offer condolences.

"She absolutely loved plants; all around our house is green. She loved orchids especially. She loved animals," Magarro said.

Magarro enjoyed feeding the birds in Fort DeRussy park after work.

"They'd (her co-workers) laugh because the birds would come flying towards her when they see her coming," she said. "She always felt sorry for the birds."

Besides May and Loreto, Magarro is survived by son Richard of Seattle and two grandchildren.

She was the second pedestrian fatality on Oahu this year. Last year there were 20 pedestrian fatalities among the 66 traffic deaths. Magarro was also the third traffic fatality of 2008.

On Jan. 2, 93-year-old Chung Rak Ha died after being hit in a crosswalk on Pali Highway. On Jan. 3, 77-year-old Julia Gomes died in a single-car crash in Ewa Beach.