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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, November 16, 2009

Crash kills ex-Kahuku star


By John Windrow
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Wreckage from the crash that killed Waika Carvalho, 23, of Hau'ula, is strewn along the guardrail of a bridge on Kamehameha Highway. The single-truck crash also injured four others.

REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

As quarterback, Carvalho led the Kahuku Red Raiders to a 14-0 season in 2003 and both the OIA and state titles.

Advertiser library photo

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LÄ'IE — Waika Carvalho, Kahuku High School's former standout quarterback and the nephew of Kaua'i Mayor Bernard Carvalho, was killed Saturday night in a single-truck crash that injured four other young men.

Carvalho, 23, of Hau'ula, played on the 2003 Red Raiders squad that stormed to an undefeated 14-0 record and the O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship and state title. The Red Raiders beat Saint Louis at Aloha Stadium that year to win the state prep crown.

Saturday night, Carvalho was the front-seat passenger in the crash on a bridge at Kamehameha Highway near Naniloa Loop at 10:48 p.m.

The Toyota pickup truck was heading south, went out of control, crossed into the north-bound lane and hit the bridge guardrail, Honolulu police traffic investigators said. The truck crashed into the north end of the bridge across the highway from the Lä'ie Country Store.

Police have opened a negligent homicide investigation and said alcohol and speed could be involved.

Investigators said the 19-year-old driver from Punalu'u was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition. Two 18-year-old passengers were taken to Queen's in critical condition, and a juvenile went to Queen's in serious condition.

Emergency Medical Services spokesman Bryan Cheplic said the man in his 20s was dead at the scene at 11:51 p.m. Carvalho was identified by the Honolulu medical examiner's office. His parents are Lewalan and Karlotta Carvalho of Hau'ula.

Carvalho played basketball and football for Kahuku and was named to the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division all-star team in 2003 as a 6-foot, 1-inch, 180-pound quarterback.

In 2004, he was named honorable mention to the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division all-star basketball team.

As a senior, Carvalho signed a letter of intent to attend Dixie College, a community college in Utah.

The family said in a statement last night that they were overwhelmed "by the outpouring of love and compassion from relatives, friends, neighbors and the community," said Carvalho's uncle, Thomas Adolpho. "We have felt their support through their visits, food and offerings to help our family."

Services are scheduled for Saturday at the Church of Latter-day Saints in Hau'ula. Viewing will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. with services from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Burial will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Hau'ula Cemetery.

A luncheon will follow at Hau'ula Beach Park.

Siuaki Livai, who was Carvalho's coach at Kahuku and now is a math teacher at the school, said he was one of the first people at the scene of the crash.

"Someone called me, and I went there right away," Livai said. "I followed the ambulance to the hospital with some of the family members, but Waika had already passed away."

He said the other young men in the truck were from the local community.

"We are praying for the families," he said.

Livai, who runs a Kahuku community youth group called Aloha Care Center, said he had been in church speaking to young people in the community yesterday.

"I'm telling them that we have to be very careful in anything that we do each and every day, who we ride with, who we let drive for us."

He called Carvalho "a very talented kid, very competitive. He threw beautiful passes."

Yesterday, people who live near the crash site said the truck was a four-door model with an extended cab and that none of the passengers was riding in the bed of the truck. Kamehameha Highway was closed for hours while police investigated.

People arrived at the accident scene yesterday, some of them still in the clothes they had worn to church, leaving flowers and comforting one another.

Christine Luft, 20, of Lä'ie Point, said she was at the scene Saturday night and saw the mangled truck. One young man had been thrown from the truck and the others were trying to get out.

"There was one kid who obviously wasn't getting out," Luft said. "Family and friends were gathered around the truck. It was a really sad thing to see."