State to pay the family of a boy killed on Maui

The state has agreed to pay $3.9 million to the family of a 12-year-old San Diego boy who plunged to his death in 2012 from a cliff along Hana Highway.

Cristian Lopez and has family were on vacation on Maui in June 2012. They were traveling toward Hana when they parked their rental vehicle near a lookout on the Keanae side of Honomanu Bay.

The boy’s mother told Maui police that her son quickly exited the vehicle and ran toward a dirt hill. She said she called out to her son but that he continued running and disappeared over the edge.

Maui officials said Lopez plunged 300 to 350 feet into the ocean. Police and firefighters recovered the boy from the shoreline.

An ambulance took Lopez to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The Maui Fire Department said there is no guardrail where Lopez went over the edge.

Lopez’s mother, father and sister sued the state Department of Transportation in 2013.

The state attorney general is asking lawmakers to approve money for the settlement in the current state legislative session. The money is included in House Bill 1022, which was referred to the Judiciary and Finance committees Friday, and a companion bill in the Senate.

The attorney general is also asking for money for a $1.565 million settlement with a man who was permanently injured in 2013 when the car he was riding in was hit at an intersection on Fort Barrette Road in Kapolei.

Walter Lee was in the front passenger seat of a car being driven by his wife on Kamaaha Avenue when they approached the Fort Barrette Road intersection. The traffic signal lights were not working. Fort Barrette Road is a state thoroughfare.

Lee’s lawyer, David Ahuna, said other motorists had notified the Honolulu Police Department that the signal lights were not working and that HPD had sufficient time to send officers to the intersection to direct traffic.

However, when Lee’s vehicle got to the intersection, there were no officers there.

Lee says his wife stopped at the intersection.

When she proceeded forward, a vehicle traveling south on Fort Barrette Road hit the passenger side of his vehicle. He suffered traumatic brain injury, paralysis, severe cognitive disabilities and other injuries.

Ahuna says that at the time of the crash, Lee was working as a tour bus driver and was supporting his wife and their minor children. He says Lee is no longer able to care for himself and is in a nursing home.

His family tried to care for him at home, but it was too difficult, Ahuna said.

The Lee family sued the state, the city, HPD, the driver of the other vehicle and the other vehicle’s owner. The state agreed to the settlement in September.

The insurance company of the other vehicle had previously reached a confidential settlement with the Lees.