Karin Stanton/Hawaii247 Contributing Editor

Five people were left dead in a trio of traffic incidents that spanned just 32 hours over Labor Day weekend. 

The string of fatalities began Friday night, with the death of football standout Jesse Mahelona in a one-car crash on Kealakehe Parkway, and includes a Saturday night head-on collision in Waimea and a Sunday morning mishap with a canoe trailer that killed a driver on Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

Another two people, including an 8-year-old girl, were transferred to a Honolulu hospital with serious injuries, police reported.

Waimea head-on

A couple and their 5-year-old son died late Saturday in a head-on collision in Waimea.

The 8-year-old daughter and the 47-year-old Keaau man who was driving the other vehicle remain hospitalized on Oahu.

Emergency crews responded to an 11:48 p.m. call to find a 2008 Chevrolet station wagon, which was heading west when it apparently crossed the center line, and a 1999 Mercury SUV badly damaged and burned 92 feet west of Mana Road.

The family of four was in the station wagon. Suzanne Leong, 30, of Waimea, and the 32-year-old driver Brandon K. Ng were dead at the scene, police reported.

Aidon Ng, 5, died at 12:32 a.m. Sunday at North Hawaii Community Hospital. His sister, Aimee, 8, was flown to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where she was reported in critical condition.

The driver of the SUV also was transferred to Queen’s, where he was reported in guarded condition.

Police said Leong, her daughter riding in the back seat, and the driver of the other vehicle were wearing seat belts. Brandon Ng and the boy were not.

Police reported they suspect alcohol and speed were factors in the crash. They also have initiated a coroner’s inquest, two negligent homicide and two negligent injury investigations.

Mamalahoa Highway was reopened at approximately 4 a.m.

Anyone with information on the crash is urged to call Traffic Enforcement Officer Marvin Troutman at 326-4646, extension 229.

Canoe trailer tragedy

Police reported a 49-year-old California man was killed early Sunday on Queen Kaahumanu Highway after a canoe on a runaway trailer crashed through his windshield.

At 8:48 a.m., the trailer carrying three canoes disconnected from a 1999  Dodge pick-up truck, crossed the highway median and hit the oncoming 2009 Ford Escape near Makala Boulevard.

One of the canoes crashed through the windshield and struck the driver, police said.

The man died at 9:45 a.m. at Kona Community Hospital. His name is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of next of kin, police said.

A 36-year-old Lahaina man driving the truck and his passengers were not injured.

Traffic enforcement officers have opened a negligent homicide investigation and ordered an autopsy.

Kona this weekend hosted the Queen Liliuokalani Long-Distance Canoe Races, which is billed as the largest regatta of its kind in the world.

Former NFL player dies in Kona crash

Jesse Mahelona, 26, died early Saturday in a one-car crash on Kealakehe Parkway.

Mahelona was driving toward Queen Kaahumanu Highway when his car apparently ran off the left side of the parkway and struck a barrier and construction equipment, ripping the roof off the 1996 Honda four-door sedan.

Mahelona apparently was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected.

Mahelona was transported to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:15 a.m.

Police believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.

The 2001 Kealakehe High School graduate played his college ball at Tennessee, was drafted in 2006 by the Tennessee Titans. He also spent time with the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mahelona leaves a daughter and a wife who is pregnant with their second child.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of Mahelona’s death.

This brings the number of traffic fatalities on the Big Island to 19 so far this year — the same as at this time last year.