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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 5:12 p.m., Friday, February 16, 2007

Windward crash victims were '06 Kamehameha grads

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

The 2006 Suzuki SUV involved in last night's head-on crash on Kapa'a Quarry Road is pulled from a gulch area early this morning. Two 18-year-old women were killed in the accident.

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Leshay K.M. Gusman was killed in Thursday night's accident.

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Whitney A.M. Fergerstrom also died in the crash.

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Shasteen Kahaunaele was injured.

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Mia Kaleihuluokalani Archuleta was also injured.

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Two 18-year-old women who were killed in a head-on collision last night on Kapa'a Quarry Road were classmates at Kamehameha Schools and graduated together last year.

Leshay K.M. Gusman was a Kamehameha boarder student from Kaua'i and Whitney A.M. Fergerstrom boarded from Kamuela on the Big Island, family and Kamehameha officials confirmed this morning.

Fergerstrom was enrolled at the University of Hawai'i—Manoa and Gusman is listed as a student in the UH system. But university officials could not immediately say today where Gusman attended.

They both listed their current addresses with UH as Girls Road, which is adjacent to Kamehameha's Kapalama campus.

One of the women killed in the crash was the driver of the gold, 2006 Suzuki SUV. The other was a backseat passenger in the SUV when it crossed the centerline of Kapa'a Quarry Road shortly before 10:30 p.m. last night.

The Suzuki carried five teenagers — three 18-year-old women, a 19-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl — when it crashed into a 2006 Nissan pickup truck.

The driver of the Suzuki was ejected in the collision. She and a rear-seat passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

The truck was driven by a 28-year-old man, whose passenger was a 35-year-old man, police said. They were both taken to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition, according to Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city's Emergency Medical Services Department.

The 19-year-old woman was taken to Castle Medical Center in stable condition. The other 18-year-old was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition and remained in the intensive care unit this morning. The 15-year-old was taken to Queen's in serious condition.

After the collision, the Suzuki veered to the right of the road and ended up in a gulch, police said.

Speed was an apparent factor, police said, but they were unsure whether alcohol was involved.

Police reopened Kapa'a Road just before 5 a.m.

The fatalities marked O'ahu' 12th and 13th for the year, compared with nine at the same time last year.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.