Mother of 10-year-old accident victim says daughter touched many lives

KAILUA-KONA — Julie Kaaloa knelt in the middle of Highway 11 Tuesday afternoon, cradling her 10-year-old child in her arms after witnessing a truck barrel into the girl only steps shy of her front door.

Kaaloa held her daughter — Janexty Kamaka-maeuluwehi Kaaloa, known to close friends and family as Ulu — again less than two hours later in a quiet room at Kona Community Hospital. This time, to say goodbye.

“The doctor came out and said she had a lot of blood in her brain. I asked him what the chances were of her coming out, and he looked down,” Kaaloa said.

“It’s OK. I know she’s gone,” she told the doctor.

Then Kaaloa spoke to her daughter one last time.

“Ulu, you go home. I love you,” she whispered.

“I told the doctors they could (take her off life support). I let her go. And that was it.”

The fifth-grade student at Honaunau Elementary School died from her injuries Tuesday afternoon. She had multiple broken bones, including one in her thigh. But her mother said it was brain trauma that claimed her life.

“I do believe she died on impact,” said a choked up Kaaloa, despite her daughter sustaining a heartbeat with help from the hospital. “I think our heavenly father loved her so much that he just plucked her off the Earth and took her home.”

Ulu was walking home from school after an early release, heading north on the highway. She waved to her neighbor, Kuna Camacho, only moments before being struck by a tan, 1987 Jeep pickup truck traveling south.

“All of the sudden, we just heard this screech, a boom and another screech,” Camacho said. “It sounded like a car hit another car. That’s how loud the impact was.”

The vehicle was driven by 61-year-old William Herndon of Captain Cook, who was arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide but was later released pending further investigation.

Police did not divulge if speed was a factor in the crash, but Camacho and Ulu’s aunt, Jevon Matsuyama, said Tuesday they believed Herndon was speeding at the moment of the crash. The posted speed limits in the area range between 35 and 45 mph.

“(The driver) was going pretty fast, and people normally do here,” Matsuyama said. “We’ve tried to put signs up and tried to tell people to go slow, but it’s a long stretch. People fly it. It’s common.”

Kaaloa wept for her daughter Wednesday, less than 24 hours after witnessing the horrifying crash with her own eyes. But she also wept for the man who killed her, displaying a depth of forgiveness in the immediate aftermath of the worst day of her life.

“I wish I knew who he was because I would like to give him a hug,” she said, crying. “I can not imagine how he feels, being responsible for taking the life of a little girl. And I should have hugged him when I was there, I should have. But he was talking to the policeman. I should have listened to the whisperings and went and gave him a hug.”

The faith providing Kaaloa with some measure of peace during such a difficult time was something she said her daughter not only shared, but held 10 times over. They are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ulu attended services every Sunday, her mother explained, and was ecstatic any time Kaaloa joined her.

For those who knew her, Ulu was more than full of love, her mother said. She was love.

Ulu sang and played the piano. She excelled in school, skipping the second grade after taking an aptitude test. She enjoyed reading fiction, particularly tales of dragons.

She also was known within her family for bringing home stray cats or snuggling up with other furry friends, like hamsters, despite allergies that would make her eyes swell. Ulu rose every morning at 5:30 a.m. to feed the ducks and chickens she demanded her family keep outside their home, catering to them again in the evenings.

But most of all, Ulu felt a profound connection to fellow members of humanity.

“When she was learning how to write, whenever customers would come into the restaurant (Kaaloa Super J’s), she would ask their name so she could write it out. Then she would ask them for their phone numbers,” Kaaloa laughed. “She had a thing about remembering people’s names. Sometimes, she’d tell them hi and I’d ask, ‘Who is that?’ It was just someone that she met, she’d say.

“She made everyone feel special, and everyone loved her at our store. They’d ask us, ‘Where is that little girl?’ They have their own memories of her.”

For those who wish to share those memories, Ulu’s service will be held Saturday in Honaunau at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building.

There will be a viewing at 8 a.m. and a service at 10 a.m. The burial will follow at the All Saints Cemetery on Middle Keei Road.

Email Max Dible at mdible@westhawaiitoday.com.