UPDATE: Hilo Girl Dies as Result of Accident

UPDATE: March 8, 8:12 a.m.

The Hawai‘i Police Department reported this morning that a 3-year-old Hilo girl (previously reported as 2 years old) died following a vehicle crash Tuesday night, March 7, in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 100 block of Puʻuʻeo Street.

The girl was identified as Kawenalanionapua Low-Hopeau.

Responding to a 6:26 p.m. call, police determined that a 2008 Ford sports-utility vehicle was traveling north through the parking lot of the apartment complex and struck the girl.

Low-Hopeau was taken to the Hilo Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 7 p.m.

The driver of the Ford, a 66-year-old Hilo woman, was not injured.

Police do not believe that speed or alcohol were factors.

An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.

The Area I Traffic Enforcement Unit has initiated a negligent homicide investigation and is asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call Officer Clarence Acob at 961-2293 or email clarence.acob@hawaiicounty.gov.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call the islandwide Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.

Because this didn’t occur on a public roadway, it is not counted as a statistical fatality.

PREVIOUS POST: March 8, 8:01 a.m.

Hawai‘i County Fire Department personnel responded to the report of an injured 2-year-old girl at 120 Pu‘u‘eo St. in Hilo on the afternoon of March 3, 2017.

Upon arrival at 6:34 p.m., fire department responders found the girl in “traumatic cardiac arrest,” laying in the grass fronting Val Hala apartments. 

HPD officers were performing CPR. 

The fire department reports that the scene was chaotic and no one was able to provide any reliable information as to the cause of the child’s injuries. 

Initial reports from dispatch prior to arrival indicated that she was possibly hit by a vehicle.

Advanced life support protocols were initiated and the child was transported to Hilo Medical Center Emergency Roon by fire department medics. 

The Hawai‘i Police Department reported that the girl died.