The arrest and charges against an Australian tourist in the personal watercraft death of a California teenager came as a "huge relief" for the girl’s family, her stepfather said, before the family returned home with her body Friday night.
A private memorial was held Friday afternoon at Borthwick Mortuary for Kristen Fonseca, 16, who would have started her junior year at Vacaville High School next week en route to her goal of studying nursing at UCLA.
Fonseca died Monday afternoon from the injuries she suffered Sunday at Keehi Lagoon, where her watercraft was allegedly rammed from behind by a watercraft operated by Tyson Dagley, 20, of Brunswick West, near Melbourne.
Honolulu police Friday night escorted Fonseca’s casket to the tarmac of Honolulu Airport for the family’s flight home to California.
Before Fonseca’s memorial service, her stepfather, Mario Canton, said that he appreciated the efforts of Honolulu police and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which conducted separate investigations into the crash.
"I feel that justice is working and justice is being served," said Canton, 43, who works for the Department of Homeland Security and yelled at Dagley to look straight ahead just before Dagley allegedly rammed Fonseca. "It won’t bring our Krissy back. But I feel that the wheels of justice are turning in the right direction, and we feel vindicated to a certain point."
Before Dagley’s arrest, Canton feared that he would be back in California and Dagley would have been allowed to return to Australia, which has no extradition treaty with the United States for misdemeanor cases.
"One of my biggest concerns is this individual would leave the state," Canton said. "The fact that he’s been arrested and charged is a huge relief for my family."
Canton repeated his plea to city and state officials to consider rules tightening personal watercraft operations at Keehi Lagoon.
"I’d rather hate for another family to go through what we’re going through," he said. "My wife can barely get out of bed every morning."
Canton plans to return to Honolulu for Dagley’s trial.
No matter what punishment Dagley might receive, Canton said, "It is not enough, no matter what it is. It’s never going to bring Krissy back."
Canton learned that a police report said a forensic computer examiner recovered deleted video segments of the crash from the camera of Dagley’s girlfriend, Natasha Ryan, who said she did not see the collision or take pictures of it.
"That’s horrible," Canton said. "The truth is always going to come out. I’m a firm believer that God will always bring the truth out. The fact that she tried to destroy evidence, where I come from that’s also a charge. You can charge someone with destruction of evidence. I’m appalled that she gave a different statement of what actually occurred out there."
