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You Make The Call
Friends Remember Innocent Victim Koa Paka Miles Print E-mail
Written by Terry Hunter - thunter@kgmb9.com   
May 17, 2008 06:45 PM

 
Friends of the Miles family say that Koa Paka and his grandfather Austin were inseparable. They both lived with their extended family in this modest house on the grounds of the Pu'u Kahea Baptist Conference Center where his grandfather worked as the caretaker. The little boy was too young to understand that his grandfather had died.

"He had asked his grandmother where was Papa, and Malia said Papa's gone to heaven to be with Jesus, and he said, "Where's heaven?" And she said, "You know heaven is up, up." And he said, "I'm going to get a helicopter and I'm going to visit Papa." And you know we just about starting crying," said Faye Toney.

The pastor of the church the family often attended says Koapaka was a happy go lucky kid.

"It's just tragic. It should never have happened. There are a lot folks that are driving way too fast. Speed limits mean nothing. Yellow lights mean nothing. I wish people on the Waianae coast and the island would not drive after consuming alcohol. It is a dangerous mix," said Bryan Wittekind.

Four of the five people sent to the hospital after the crash have been released, and Koa Paka's mother, Erica, was scheduled to return home Saturday, but there are no words to describe the pain she and his father Kamuela are enduring.

"Kamuela the father has seen death in Iraq and now he's picked up his own little son who's just been obliterated by something that could have been avoided," said Faye Toney.

If only Sanford Valdez had not been drinking and driving, and if only the barrier that divides Farrington Highway at Maile Point had extended another 100 feet or so.


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Last Updated ( May 20, 2008 05:47 PM )
 
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