UPDATE – (October 29) – Hawai‘i police report that the three-week-old female infant involved in the October 23 vehicle crash on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway has passed away. The infant was pronounced deceased at 5:29 p.m. on Monday, October 27. 

The female passenger who was killed in the head-on collision was also identified as 47-year-old Anina Masaichy of Kailua-Kona. 

FIRST REPORT

(BIVN) – One woman is dead and the five passengers in the same car, including a three-week-old infant, were seriously injured after a head-on crash on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway on Thursday afternoon.

The driver of the other vehicle was arrested for various offenses, including suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant. He remains hospitalized in serious condition.

The cross-island highway, also known as the new Saddle Road, was closed between mile markers 24 & 25 for several hours due to the collision.

From the Hawaiʻi Police Department:

At approximately 4:34 p.m., South Hilo Patrol officers, along with personnel from the Hawai‘i Fire Department and Pōhakuloa Fire and Emergency Services, responded to a report of a head-on collision near the 25-mile marker.

Police determined that a 2022 Toyota pickup truck traveling east (Hilo-bound) overtook multiple vehicles and struck a westbound (Kona-bound) 2014 Subaru multipurpose vehicle head-on. The driver of the pickup truck, identified as 43-year-old Kimo Medeiros of Kurtistown, and five occupants of the Subaru were transported to Hilo Benioff Medical Center for treatment.

A sixth passenger, who was in the backseat of the Subaru, identified as 47-year-old Anina Masaichy of Kailua-Kona, was unresponsive at the scene and later pronounced dead at 7:53 p.m. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.

The five other Subaru occupants, a three-week-old female infant, a four-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl, and two adults, an 18-year-old female and a 51-year-old male, sustained serious injuries. The infant and 4-year-old were medevaced to Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children on Oahu while the 17-year-old was flown to the Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu for further treatment.

Medeiros was arrested for:

• Suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant
• First-degree negligent homicide
• Three counts of first-degree negligent injury
• Two counts of second-degree negligent injury
• Reckless driving
• Driving without a license

Medeiros was transported to Hilo Benioff Medical Center for his injuries and then medevaced to Queen’s Medical Center where he remains in serious condition.

Speed, alcohol, and/or drugs are believed to be possible contributing factors in the crash, police say.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Laurence Davis at (808) 961-2391 or via email at Laurence.Davis@hawaiipolice.gov, police say. Tipsters may also call the department’s non-emergency line at (808) 935-3311.

This is the 19th traffic fatality of 2025 as compared to 25 traffic fatalities this same time last year, police say.