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An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging a Waianae man with killing his cousin in a one-car crash in July.
The indictment charges Jamil B. Ballesteros with first-degree negligent homicide and driving without a valid driver license.
A state judge set bail at $15,000.
Honolulu police said Ballesteros was behind the wheel of a sedan that crashed into a light pole at the intersection of Kuala Street and Acacia Road on July 17.
Nico Ballesteros, 22, of Waialua, was a passenger in the car. The crash pinned him inside the vehicle. He went to a hospital by ambulance in critical condition where he died the following day.
Jamil Ballesteros, who was 21 years old at the time of the crash, went by ambulance to Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition where he was treated and released.
Deputy City Prosecutor Chastity Imamura told the judge Wednesday that Jamil Ballesteros’s blood alcohol content was 0.15. The legal threshold for drunk driving is 0.08 BAC. She said police also found open alcohol containers in the car.
According to state court records Ballesteros has five prior convictions for driving without a driver’s license. Honolulu police cited him with another driving without a driver’s license offense three months before the crash. That case is still pending. The court continued the case twice because his lawyer says Ballesteros is undergoing substance abuse rehabilitation treatment.
