The hanai grandfather of a 3-year-old girl who died after being run over by a sport utility vehicle Tuesday in the parking lot of a Hilo apartment complex described her as “happy-go-lucky, always smiling.”
The hanai grandfather of a 3-year-old girl who died after being run over by a sport utility vehicle Tuesday in the parking lot of a Hilo apartment complex described her as “happy-go-lucky, always smiling.”
Lordel Kapika said Kawenalanionapua Low-Hopeau was on a skateboard in the lowest-level parking lot of Hilo Val Hala Apartments when she was struck by a 2008 Ford SUV. A police log identified the driver as 66-year-old Andera Cuba of Hilo.
“What I’m worried about is my 4-year-old granddaughter,” Kapika said. “They were inseparable. The two of them is always playing together, always. Wherever you see one, you see the sister, right behind.”
Kapika didn’t witness the incident, which was reported to police at 6:26 p.m. He said he went to the lower parking lot afterward and saw police perform CPR on the girl, who was pronounced dead at 7 p.m. at Hilo Medical Center.
According to Kapika, the toddler was on a skateboard when she was struck by the vehicle.
He said Cuba displayed no outward emotion but appeared to be “in shock” after the collision.
Another Val Hala resident, Sarah Edlao, said the child’s mother, Britney-Poliahu Hopeau, was “crying out loud.” Edlao went to the complex’s lowest-level parking lot, where the tragedy occurred, and “saw two police officers” plus Cuba, the toddler and the child’s skateboard. She said Cuba was driving forward when the child was hit.
“So the child was in the front, on the skateboard,” Edlao said, and added Cuba “just ran over the child … .”
It’s not clear whether Cuba lives in the apartment complex and the Tribune-Herald was unable to contact her Wednesday.
Police opened a negligent homicide investigation and an autopsy was ordered to determine the exact cause of the girl’s death, but Cuba wasn’t arrested, according to the booking log.
Social media blew up with numerous allegations about the incident — none of which the Tribune-Herald could confirm. According to a written statement, police don’t suspect speed or alcohol were involved.
A third Val Hala resident, who identified herself only as “Chandra” and a mother of three, said she was upset by the “negativity” of social media posts.
“I think it’s a big responsibility for the whole community to watch for the keiki and there’s a big problem with people driving fast around here and also backing up in parking lots without looking behind them,” she said.
She said it’s an unrealistic expectation for mothers to keep their children indoors “when all the other children are playing outside.”
“You’d think that people are watching out for the children, but when people are just driving carelessly, that’s a big problem, too, you know,” she said.
Kapika said the girl was the second child Hopeau has lost. A son, Kalai Torres, was just a year old when he died in 2005. Kapika described him as a sickly baby who was fed by tube.
“The doctors said he’d never make it to three months but he lived to a year,” Kapika said. “She’s never gotten over the other one and now this happens.”
Anyone who witnessed Tuesday’s fatal collision is asked to contact Officer Clarence Acob at 961-2293 or clarence.acob@hawaiicounty.gov. Those who prefer anonymity can call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.