Jason K. Awong was a happy-go-lucky person and a “;jack-of-all-trades”; who always helped others, said his father.

“;He was my right-hand man. Anything I did, he was there to help me,”; Gilmore Awong said. “;He was always the one I could count on when I needed something.”;

Jason Awong, 39, of Waianae, died Sunday at the Queen's Medical Center from injuries he sustained in a car crash in Nanakuli a day earlier.

Awong and his son, Logan, 22, were on their way to a store on Haleakala Avenue at about 5:40 p.m. with Logan at the wheel. Police said the car veered toward the right of the road and struck a rock wall, utility pole, fire hydrant and tree, then crossed the road and hit another pole.

Awong, the front-seat passenger, was taken to Queen's in critical condition and died Sunday. Autopsy results are pending.

Logan Awong, treated for minor injuries at Hawaii Medical Center West, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, driving with a suspended license and first-degree negligent injury. He was released pending further investigation.

Police have initiated a negligent-homicide investigation. The younger man is traumatized and blames himself for what happened, said his grandfather.

“;It's nobody's fault,”; he said. “;Things just happen.”;

Awong's death is the eighth traffic-related fatality this year, the same figure for the same period last year. It was the second fatal accident on the Leeward Coast in a week.

Ollie DeMello, 53, of Waianae died Friday from injuries sustained Wednesday.

DeMello was traveling Waianae-bound on Farrington Highway in a white pickup truck when he veered onto the shoulder and struck a guardrail post half a mile west of Aliinui Drive. Autopsy results were deferred pending further investigation, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.