A young mom, who had just moved to Hawaii to rebuild her life, sadly died on her way home from her birthday celebration after she drove the wrong way on a busy highway.
Kylee Noheamaikalani Chun, 25, was heading back home to her two young sons, Liko, three, and Mateo, five, on Sunday when her car collided with an 18-wheeler truck around 3.45am.
At the time, Chun, who moved from Los Angeles, California to her home state, was not wearing a seatbelt when she drove her vehicle ‘eastbound in the westbound lanes’ on the H-1 freeway, the Honolulu Police Department’s Vehicular Homicide Section told Honolulu Star Advertiser.
After crashing her car into the large truck, driven by a 77-year-old man, Chun was pulled from her vehicle by bystanders before being treated at the scene by paramedics.
The mother-of-two was transported to a nearby hospital where she later died of her injuries. The truck driver was also taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Police said it remains unclear if drugs or alcohol played a role in the fatal crash. Speed is not believed to be a factor.
Chun chose to move for a ‘safer, more peaceful life for her children’ following the disastrous wildfires and custody battle with her ex-partner, where she was awarded full custody of her sons, according to a GoFundMe created by a close family friend.
She moved back to the state in January, as her mother Jenny and younger sister decided to pack up their lives and join her just four days before the fatal crash to help ‘raise the boys so she could focus on school,’ the page organizer, Ying Drury, wrote.
Kylee Noheamaikalani Chun, who just turned 25, tragically died on her way home from her birthday celebration after she drove the wrong way on a busy highway in Hawaii
She was heading back home to her two young sons, Liko, three and Mateo, five, on Sunday when her car collided with an 18-wheeler truck around 3.45am. (Pictured: Chu, left, with her two sons, mom and sister)
Chun was in her second year of college and just recently got a new job.
‘She was working hard toward her bachelor’s degree while raising her boys. Her entire life was devoted to building a better future for her children,’ Drury added.
Drury and other loved ones believe Chun was not familiar with the roads, and that might have been why she crashed.
‘She’s so new to Oahu and she hasn’t been home in a really long time,’ Drury told Island News.
‘So how she was getting around was she was still using Google Maps, you know, or Apple Maps, or whatever, just to get around.’
After she and her sons were displaced by the wildfires that took over Los Angeles and other surrounding areas in January, Chun wanted to create a better life for her family.
‘She just wanted a better life for the boys. It’s been so hard for them the last few months, you know, especially what happened in California,’ Drury stated.
Chun chose to move for a ‘safer, more peaceful life for her children’ following the disastrous wildfires and custody battle with her ex-partner, where she was awarded full custody of her sons
In a recent Facebook post, Chun excitedly documented her family’s move to Hawaii.
Alongside a video of her and her boys traveling through the airport to their new home, she wrote: ‘First 24 hours back home in Oahu. Being able to experience my childhood all over again through my boys is a dream come true.
‘I cannot thank all my family, cousins, aunties and uncles for helping me solo parent and for showing the boys the island life I’ve missed so much,’ she added.
Chun has been remembered as someone ‘full of light’ who dreamt of becoming a teacher one day.
‘She was full of light laughter. She was so funny. Always spontaneous with her boys and always doing fun stuff,’ a loved one said of the late mother.
She ran her own tutoring business called ‘Tutoring Services by Ms.Kylee,’ which offered not just educational guidance for kindergarten through college students, but financial aid, research and college application services, per the Honolulu Star Advertiser.
Chun also worked for HiEmployment, a staffing company that serves Kauai, Maui, Oahu and Hawaii Island.
Chun (middle) has been remembered as someone ‘full of light’ who dreamt of becoming a teacher one day
With Chun gone, her mother has had to pick up all the pieces and turn her attention toward raising and protecting Liko and Mateo.
‘Jenny is ready to fight with everything she has to keep the boys safe, loved, and supported—just as Kylee would have wanted,’ the donation page said.
‘Kylee loved her sons more than anything in the world. She gave everything she had for them, and her dream was to give them a life filled with opportunity, security, and love. Now it’s up to those of us who loved her to carry that dream forward.’
As of Tuesday morning, more than $15,700 was raised to support the grieving family.
Chun’s unfortunate death marks the 44th traffic fatality this year in Oahu. This time last year, there were 22 reported deaths.
Her cause of death is still pending, the city Department of the Medical Examiner told the outlet.
Daily Mail contacted the Honolulu Police Department’s Vehicular Homicide Section and the Department of the Medical Examiner for comment.
