MEDIA RELEASE

A 44-year-old woman from Kailua-Kona died Sunday (October 23) from injuries she sustained in a one-vehicle crash on Miloliʻi Road, 3.7 miles west of the Hawaiʻi Belt Road (Route 11) in South Kona.

The driver of the vehicle was identified as Karen Alani-Powell of a Kailua-Kona address.

Responding to a 12:04 a.m. call, Kona patrol officers determined that the driver was operating a 1987 multi-purpose vehicle and traveling east on Miloliʻi Road when she lost control and ran off the road into a lava field.

The driver was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle.

She was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:22 a.m.

Police believe that speed and alcohol were factors in this crash.

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

This is the 17th traffic fatality on the Big Island this year compared with 23 at this time last year.