Deadly highway is scene of yet another tragedy

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

Once again, the Wai'anae Coast is left to struggle with the loss of sons and daughters to tragedy on Farrington Highway.

A relative of Tina Vaesa'u, who was among four people killed in a two-car wreck on Farrington Highway on Monday, places flowers around her photo at a makeshift shrine at the accident site. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Killed were Verna Leina'ala Eli, 24; Tina Vaesa'u, 18; and brothers Christopher and Joshua Mendoza, 21 and 19, according to the medical examiner's office and relatives and friends. All but Eli were former Wai'anae High School students.

An impromptu memorial erected yesterday at the crash site, just west of Mai'u'u Road, drew a number of grief-stricken friends, relatives and concerned citizens.

"It's very hard," said Frances Carrero, Christopher Mendoza's girlfriend and mother of his son, Hunter, age 2. "I'm trying to take care of the funeral arrangements right now," she said, fighting back tears.

Shortly after noon, several members of Vaesa'u's family visited the scene of the accident to decorate the site with flowers. The woman's mother, Emma, broke down and wept by the roadside, consoled by her husband, Tou Vaesa'u.

Felix Akau, who lives across the street from the crash site, walked over carrying a makeshift wooden cross and a sledgehammer. Akau said he didn't know the family, but thought the cross might help. He pounded it into the ground, and Vaesa'u's family taped a recent photo of the young woman across it.

Like many acquainted with the victims, the Vaesa'u family declined to talk to reporters.

Police were still investigating the crash, in which witnesses said two cars appeared to be racing near the Makaha Surfside apartments shortly after 7 p.m. when the Nissan Altima, which police say was owned by Eli and driven by Joshua Mendoza, whipped out of control and plowed into a sport utility vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

A light-colored Honda that witnesses said was racing the Altima stopped momentarily, then sped away after the driver looked inside the Altima and began yelling in anguish, according to one witness.

"The guy was outside his car," said Vernon Keli'ikipi, who lives nearby and said he rushed from his home seconds after he heard the impact. He said he recognized the driver of the Honda as Wai'anae resident Peter De La Cruz. "He looked inside the Nissan and started kicking the car and swearing and yelling, 'No way!' "

De La Cruz said last night that he was the driver of the other car, but he and the driver of the Altima were not racing.

Three of the five people in the Altima died at the scene, and a fourth was later pronounced dead at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. An 18-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man in the SUV were flown to The Queen's Medical Center, where they were treated and released. A man from the Altima also was flown to Queen's and is listed in critical condition.

Farrington Highway is considered one of the the state's deadliest stretches of road. Traffic accidents have killed at least 80 people on the road between Honokai Hale and Ka'ena Point since 1990. Police say pervasive speeding is a big part of the problem.

Lisa Kaneao, wife of David Kaneao, first cousin of the Mendoza brothers, said when she heard the news about the collision Monday night, "I was just praying it wasn't somebody I know."

After she learned the Mendoza brothers had died, she tried to console Carrero, who worries about how she'll raise her son without Christopher Mendoza.

"She's trying to cope, but she's really taking it hard," Kaneao said. "She's trying to be strong for her son. Chris was a good boyfriend and a good father. He and Josh were both good boys."

But, she said, "If they wanted to race, they should have gone to the race track. They should have respected the highway."

Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.