'Ewa Beach bicyclist's hit-run death mourned

With the same hands that once held up her best friend’s son with joy, Cynthia Medina wiped away tears of sorrow for 21-year-old Theron Keoki Nicodemus.

Eydie Muromoto, center, mother of Theron Keoki Nicodemus, is comforted by her sister, Sheila Barnes, left, and Cynthia Medina, a friend of the family. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Medina was one of three people in an Intensive Care Unit room at the Queen’s Medical Center at 1:40 a.m. yesterday when Nicodemus died without regaining consciousness from major head injuries sustained about 25 hours earlier, when he was struck by a van while bicycling home. The van’s driver, who struck Nicodemus on Fort Weaver Road in ‘Ewa Beach, fled the scene.

Honoring his request, Nicodemus’ family donated his eyes, heart, kidneys and liver for transplant to potential recipients. A girl from Hawai‘i will receive the liver, the family said.

Before leaving the room, Medina expressed her love for Nicodemus, thanking him "for always being there for me, for being generous to give someone else a chance in life."

Minutes before Nicodemus died, Medina and the young man’s stepgrandmother, Marge Abaro, were trying to relieve the tension by sharing laughs with a nurse.

"We were talking about some fun things," Medina recalled, "so when Keoki left us, he left with laughter in the room."

Outside the room, Medina’s heart was breaking as she saw Nicodemus’ mother, Eydie Muromoto, approaching with her husband, Jerry. Both had been resting nearby.

"All I could say was, ‘He left,’" Medina said. "It just hurts to see my best friend suffer so much.

"But I know our suffering is going to be somebody else’s happiness," she added, referring to the donation of Nicodemus’ organs.

Theron Keoki Nicodemus was using his new bicycle for the first time to ride home from a bus stop when he was hit by a van Wednesday morning.

Nicodemus, who celebrated his last birthday on Monday, was diagnosed as brain-dead, but his family had decided to keep him on life support.

"He didn’t feel no pain," said Tenney Helenihi, Nicodemus’ stepgrandfather. "When I looked at him, I knew he was brain-dead, but I could see his chest rising and when I held his hand, I could feel his pulse.

"The doctors told us once the brain stem dies, then everything else goes."

At that point, doctors were instructed not to take heroic measures to keep Nicodemus alive.

Medina said doctors felt that he would have never come out of his coma.

The victim’s stepfather, Jerry Muromoto, calls it a senseless death and wants the driver of the van to "own up to what he did."

"We’re not trying to get revenge," Muromoto said. "I just want to get some kind of closure for my wife. "

His message to the driver: "Please follow your conscience. Do the moral thing."

Nicodemus, whose girlfriend is due to give birth to his son in four months, worked at a warehouse in Mapunapuna. He had visited a friend in Pearl City after work and was on his way home when struck by the van, less than a mile from St. Francis Medical Center-West.

Muromoto says he usually picked up his stepson at the bus stop, sometimes early in the morning, to save him a long walk home. Wednesday, for the first time, Nicodemus used the bike his stepfather recently gave him to ride home from the bus stop.

"We’re hearing a witness saw the van veer off to the right shoulder, hit Keoki, slow down and then take off," Muromoto said. "Keoki got dragged about 70 feet and that’s what caused his massive head injuries."

Police are following up leads on the suspect vehicle, a dark-colored van with a badly damaged grille. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers (955-8300) or the Honolulu Police Department’s vehicular homicide investigators (529-3499).

[back to top]