Fourth crash victim stable

LIHU’E – The fourth victim of the two-car crash that killed two Kapa’a High

School juniors last Friday remained in stable condition at Wilcox Hospital

yesterday but has been moved out of the intensive care unit, according to

Kaua’i police.

The victim, identified as Torao Nakamura of Kapa’a, 16, by a

Honolulu daily, had been in the Wilcox intensive care unit (ICU) after

undergoing surgery for internal injuries sustained during the noontime

collision along the Kapa’a bypass road.

Hospital spokesperson Lani Yukimura

declined to confirm whether or not he was still in intensive care yesterday but

KPD’s traffic safety unit head, Ltd. Stanton Koizumi, said after a visit to the

hospital that the victim had been moved.

Koizumi went to the hospital

yesterday to personally check on the condition of the youth, after getting a

telephone call from someone saying the 17-year-old boy had died. He did say the

boy has been moved out of the ICU, something Yukimura would neither confirm nor

deny. The boy’s condition was upgraded from serious, Koizumi said.

The

lieutenant said neither the KPD nor the hospital authorized the release of the

name of the victim and doesn’t know where the Honolulu newspaper got its

information about the boy’s identity.

Nakamura was apparently a front-seat

passenger in a car driven by Clinton Kaleo Masaru Nakagoshi, 16, of Kilauea.

Nakagoshi, who suffered severe multiple injuries in the accident, died in

Honolulu early Saturday morning after being medivaced to Queen’s Medical Center

for treatment.

The KPD traffic safety unit continues to investigate the

accident, which closed the Kapa’a bypass road for nearly three hours and

snarled eastside traffic. Speed may have been a factor in the accident, the KPD

said, but alcohol has been ruled out.

Apparently, the car crossed the

double-yellow center line heading toward Kapa’a on the bypass road, and was hit

broadside by a Wailua-bound, small Mazda pickup truck driven by Aaron Marvin,

17, of Kilauea, according to police.

Marvin was treated and released in

time to participate in his Kapa’a High School class of 2000 commencement

exercises Friday night.

Another Kapa’a High junior, 16-year-old Tyler James

Lukela Alesna, of Kapahi, died at Wilcox Friday. He apparently was a back-seat

passenger in the four-door sedan.

Mayor Maryanne Kusaka joined others in

praying for the survivors and families of the victims.

“This is a terrible,

terrible tragedy, and my prayers are with the families of the victims,” she

said.

“We must, as a community, react in a way that will prevent similar

future tragedies.”

It is believed the boys in the Kapa’a-bound vehicle were

part of a caravan of Kapa’a High School seniors and others who joined the

parade. Seniors were let out of school early Friday.

“Caravans, although a

tradition in our schools for years, have become unruly, destructive and

deadly,” Kusaka said.

Unconfirmed reports have surfaced, indicating some

Kapa’a High students squealed tires, and girls removed their shirts, at Kaua’i

High and other locations.

“Students, parents, teachers, school

administrators, government officials, police and our courts must share the

responsibility of creating a safe and lawful graduation experience,” Kusaka

continued.

“Driving to school is a privilege, and should be treated as such

– afforded only to seniors who have earned it. Let’s honor the memory of these

boys by taking the steps to make sure that other families will never experience

the devastation of such a senseless loss,” she concluded.

Services for

Tyler Alesna will be held Friday. Clinton Nakagoshi’s services will be held on

Saturday.