When Gregory Brown looks out from his second-story apartment in Maili, he sees the Waianae Mountains and is reminded that they were the backdrop of that dark night in March when an alleged drunken driver plowed into his family as they sat at a bus stop, killing his 4-year-old son, Ashton.
"It’s been very difficult," Brown said. "The weirdest things remind me of him.
"He was a very nice little boy, so polite. He was very devoted to his mother and his little sister," he said.
Ashton Brown is remembered for his love of alligators and Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four and for putting his face next to his mother’s stomach when she was pregnant with sister Cecile, saying, "I want to see you."
The family spoke publicly for the first time this week about the crash, which also injured three of Ashton’s siblings and their mother, Charesse Brown.
Police stopped Potasi Uta Jr., 44, at the 7-Eleven in Makaha that night and arrested him on suspicion of negligent homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and drunken driving. Uta was on parole at the time and is back in prison.
Gregory and Charesse Brown were with six of their nine children the night of the crash. Three of the children are adults and live on their own. The crash didn’t injure Gregory Brown, 45, his 6-year-old son Galan or his 9-month-old daughter, Cecile.
Daughters Gala, 11, and Freya, 9, who are athletic and took ballet, are in wheelchairs because of the crash. The crash broke Gala’s arm, collarbone, two ribs, leg and skull. She wears a brace anchored to the bones of her foot, ankle and thigh.
The crash broke both of Freya’s legs.
Charesse Brown, 41, has a titanium rod in her thigh and uses a walker because of her injuries. The pain keeps her awake at night.
Alexander, 5, has scars on his lower left leg from fractures.
Esther Willets, the driver’s niece, said the family is sorry for the Browns’ loss and said her family has raised nearly $4,000 through car washes, a pizza night and donations for a fund created at Bank of Hawaii.
Willets said her family will hold a pastele plate fundraiser — likely to bring in more than $1,000 — from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Waianae Small Boat Harbor.
Since the March 28 crash the Brown family has been trying to heal from the physical and emotional pain, making long trips to hospitals in town for checkups and to state offices for financial assistance because both parents haven’t been able to work since the crash.
Charesse Brown, who was released from the hospital April 6, said the family has been staying at a transitional apartment in Maili since last month but is looking for another place to stay. She said their home is far from the hospitals and on the second floor, so the girls have to drag themselves up the stairs if their father isn’t there.
"It’s really hard on the kids," she said.
The family is struggling with the additional travel costs to the hospital and is frustrated because the state cut back on its benefits. Before the crash the family struggled to find housing because Charesse and Gregory had psychological problems that prevented them from working.
The night of the crash, the family took a bus to Makaha because they couldn’t find a hotel room in town.
After getting off the bus, Charesse Brown and her children went across the street to a bus stop on the makai side of Farrington Highway, fronting Makaha Beach, while they worked out where they would stay for the night.
About 20 minutes later, Gregory Brown, who was still on the mauka side of the road, watched helplessly as the sedan plowed into his family.
He said he first noticed a car’s tires screeching in the darkness. Then he saw a car fishtailing as it approached from the Kaena Point direction. The driver appeared to regain control about 50 feet from the bus stop, but instead of stopping, the vehicle accelerated straight into the bus stop, Brown said.
Ashton was in a stroller in front of the bench. Cecile was strapped to her mother’s chest. Charesse, Gala, Freya and Alexander were sitting on the bench. Galan was walking around; he escaped injury.
Brown ran across the street, thinking his entire family had been killed.
He found four of them in the bushes, still on the bus-stop bench, having "rode it like a surfboard," he said.
Brown walked toward the Honda sedan, and the driver hit the gas in reverse, almost hitting Brown, who had to jump out of the way. The car sped off.
Ashton’s stroller was shredded, and the boy was knocked 20 feet away. Brown found his son in the bushes, appearing to be asleep.
After police stopped the alleged driver, officers took Brown to identify the vehicle. He said he saw the driver standing outside, swaying and glaring at an officer. Brown said he doesn’t know whether he can forgive the driver.
Gala Brown thought she was going to die when she saw the headlights in her face, and put her head down.
"It just really upsets me that someone would do that and not care that they injured a family and killed a 4-year-old boy," she said. "He probably doesn’t care, and if he does, then maybe … he won’t get behind the wheel of a car when he’s drunk."
