An Oahu grand jury this week indicted a 36-year-old woman on a charge of manslaughter after she allegedly drove drunk at 85 miles per hour and sideswiped a 59-year-old father of four into a tree, killing him in January 2023.

Shawlea Kalinakea Aona was originally arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide and drunken driving in connection with the crash on Iolani Avenue at Prospect Street that killed 59-year-old Elmer Bruce Milikini on Jan. 28, 2023. She was indicted Tuesday.

Milikini had three boys and a wife pregnant with his fourth son at the time of his death.

“Based on our understanding of the case, it is our belief this very unfortunate accident should have resulted at most in a charge of negligent homicide,” Aona’s attorney, Myles S. Breiner, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

At about 2:29 a.m. that day, Aona was allegedly speeding in a 2015 Acura MDX and driving drunk, traveling eastbound behind Milikini’s 1997 Toyota 4Runner on Iolani Avenue.

Aona tried to pass Milikini and allegedly sideswiped his SUV, causing it to spin “out of control and collide into a tree,” according to a civil suit filed April 16 against Aona by Milikini’s family.

After hitting Milikini’s SUV, Aona’s car continued traveling eastbound, crashed into a signpost, then crossed Alapai Street and hit three empty parked vehicles before it came to a stop.

The Honolulu Police Department determined that Aona was “driving under the influence of alcohol, improper overtaking, and improper passing,” according to the civil complaint.

Aona was arrested after she “refused to participate in the Standardized Field Sobriety Test.” Milikini was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We sought the manslaughter charge rather than the lesser charge of negligent homicide because of the totality of the circumstances,” said Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm in a statement. “While presenting the grand jury findings to a judge in open court … Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Hon-Lum Cheung-Cheng cited evidence Aona was attempting to pass Milikini while driving as fast as 85 mph in a 25 mph zone. She also had a blood alcohol content above the legal limit.”

According to state court records, Aona paid $142 to satisfy a speeding ticket in 2018, a judgement in 2015 for driving at night without headlights, $107 to settle a 2013 speeding ticket and $97 to pay off a fine for driving and using her mobile device in 2011.

Two criminal complaints from 2015 are marked “confidential” and not available to the public.

Aona is scheduled for an arraignment and plea at 8:30 a.m. Monday before Oahu Circuit Judge Ronald G. Johnson.

Manslaughter is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Aona was arrested Wednesday by Hono­lulu Police Department officers and released on $100,000 bail.

The civil suit against Aona seeks damages at trial for Milikini’s four children, who suffered “serious emotional distress and mental anguish, loss of parental care, love, affection, society, comfort, attention, advice or counsel” of their father after he died.

On April 17 the case was assigned to the Court Annexed Arbitration Program, according to state court records.

In December a new all-way stop at the intersection of Prospect and Alapai streets and Iolani Avenue went into service to reduce speeding and the number of traffic accidents in the area.

The all-way stop — created by installing new stop signs on opposite sides of Prospect Street — is the product of discussion among members of the Makiki community for dec­ades, and was accelerated after Milikini’s death.