A 21-year-old woman has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed two men in Makaha.
Prosecutors charged Sierra M. Burns on Sunday with two counts of first-degree negligent homicide, two counts of an accident involving death or serious bodily injury
(failure to render aid) and one count of an accident involving bodily injury.
Both first-degree negligent homicide and accidents involving death or serious bodily injury are Class B felonies. Each carries penalties
of up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Burns is in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $750,000 bail and is scheduled to appear Monday in
Circuit Court.
Jonah Ragsdale, 21, and Daniel Mole, 23, died after
a 2013 Volkswagen Passat struck them while they were repairing a tire on the eastbound shoulder of Farrington Highway, about a mile east
of Makua Cave on the night
of Feb. 19.
Police said the driver
later identified as Burns continued on without stopping to render aid.
Ragsdale, of Maili, died at the scene. Emergency Medical Services treated and transported Mole, of Nanakuli, in critical condition to Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center where he died.
Paramedics examined a third man in his 20s for minor injuries. He refused treatment and transport to a hospital.
About a half-hour later,
police found the vehicle on Lahilahi Street in Makaha with Burns inside the vehicle in the back seat. At the time, police couldn’t determine whether she was the driver at the time of the crash.
The vehicle, which had front-end damage, is registered to Burns.
Police arrested her in Nanakuli on Saturday night after they received information from witnesses who
reported to police that they saw her driving the Passat
on Farrington Highway within a few minutes before and
after the crash.
Lt. Ben Moszkowicz, acting captain of the Honolulu Police Department’s Traffic
Division, said “drugs and/or alcohol” were involved.
Daniel Mole’s father,
Richard Mole, declined to comment on the charges.
Court records show prosecutors charged Burns in 2016 with driving under the influence of an intoxicant, her
first DUI offense.
Judge Philip Doi later
dismissed the charge without prejudice after he denied the state’s motion to reschedule her arraignment due to “court congestion” at the Waianae courthouse.
