By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A 41-year-old Waimea man has been indicted for a collision last May that killed two former Honokaa High School athletes.
The three-count indictment returned Tuesday by a Kona grand jury charges Ronald Ramsey Hayward with two counts of negligent homicide plus DUI.
Police say Hayward had a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.08 when his 2006 Ford F-350 pickup truck collided with a 2000 Honda two-door sedan driven by 19-year-old Destin I. Baquiring of Paauilo at the intersection of Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Kawaihae Road in South Kohala shortly after midnight on May 6.
Killed in the collision were 19-year-old Kauaheakeokaua Lactaoen of Waimea and 18-year-old Rocky P. Pactol of Honokaa, passengers in the Honda. Neither were wearing seat belts and both were ejected upon impact. According to a written Fire Department release, Lactaoen was dead at the scene. Police said that Pactol died at 4:23 a.m. at North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea.
Pactol was a 2011 graduate of Honokaa High School and represented the Dragons in golf. Lactaoen was a 2010 Honokaa High graduate who played wide receiver on the Dragon football team.
Baquiring, a 2010 Honokaa High graduate who was a defensive lineman for the Dragons, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of negligent homicide plus DUI, drinking while driving and possession of marijuana. He was released pending further investigation and, to date, has not been charged. His drivers license, however, was revoked in administrative proceeding shortly following the crash, according to court records.
According to court records, Hayward, a mixed martial artist and martial arts instructor who founded the Polynesian Fight Club, has two prior convictions for DUI, in 2001 and 2011. In the latter case, which stemmed from a Sept. 20, 2009 incident, Hayward was also convicted of driving more than 30 miles per hour above the speed limit.
Pactol’s estate and his parents, Nadine and Peter Pactol, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hayward and Baquiring. The suit filed in August also names Baquiring’s parents, Tramine and Edmund Baquiring, the Seafood Bar in Kawaihae and Just Tacos Mexican Grill & Cantina in The Shops at Mauna Lani on the Kohala Coast.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
