Francisco "Cisco" Hufana was supposed to participate in a memorial cruise Sunday to honor a friend who died in a 2010 mo-ped crash.
Instead, his friends were gathered at a roadside memorial for Hufana, 17, who died Saturday, a victim of his own mo-ped accident.
"He loved mo-peds," 17-year-old Justine Rano said Sunday at the improvised memorial of candles, flowers and notes. "He was making his mo-ped fast for today’s cruise."
Police said Hufana was headed mauka on Kalihi Street just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday when his mo-ped hit a vehicle that was turning left onto Kalihi Street from Machado Street.
The driver of the other vehicle was not injured, but two passengers were treated for minor injuries, police said.
Hufana, who police said was not wearing a helmet, was taken in extremely critical condition to a hospital, where he later died. Police are investigating whether he was speeding or intoxicated.
More than two dozen of Hufana’s friends gathered at the memorial for him Sunday, and the consensus was that Hufana was a cheerful guy who cared deeply for those around him.
"He was a funny guy," said his best friend, Justin Jamorabon, 17. "He always make people laugh. He not like see people sad and stuff. He tried to make as much friends as he can."
Ana Domondon, 16, said she had known Hufana since sixth grade and would remember him as a good rapper who was always there for her.
"He actually had like a big heart," she said. "Like, he’s such a caring person. He would never leave one person out."
The cruise Hufana was gearing up for was in honor of Gerald Baltazar, or "G-Boss," a 17-year-Farrington High School senior who ran a stop sign and hit a station wagon at the intersection of Lowrey Avenue and Manoa Road. He also was not wearing a helmet and was thought to be speeding.
Hufana attended Farrington but dropped out and eventually graduated from the Adult Friends for Youth program, Rano said.
"He was struggling when he was young," Rano said. "He never really did meet his dad, he never lived with his mom. He would just go to a friend’s house and sleep there. … He was doing whatever it took for just survive."
Sonia Tadeo, 18, fought back tears as she remembered her boyfriend as "a great guy, caring, loving, always happy."
She said her favorite memory of Hufana is "how he’d always tell me everything’s going to be OK."
Police said Hufana is the seventh fatality on Oahu this year, compared with four at the same time last year.
