‘It’s not about vengeance’

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WAILUKU - Nearly two years after her 8-year-old son, Will Smith, died from internal injuries sustained in a car crash near Ukumehame Wayside Park, Susan Moulton is seeking justice and a way to find something positive in her family's loss.

"It's not about vengeance," said the part-time Kaanapali resident. "What happened to Will has changed my life. It made me a more compassionate person. There are a lot of people out there who need help, especially children."

This week and next week, the Will Smith Foundation will sponsor three events honoring Will's memory and working to raise money for children's charities.

In an interview Monday, Moulton, 47, said she was one of a half-dozen witnesses who spent about 20 minutes before a Maui County grand jury on Friday. With grand jurors listening, she relived June 3, 2007, the day her son died on an operating table at Maui Memorial Medical Center. She said she later learned Friday via a voice mail message from a Maui County prosecutor that the grand jury agreed with a charge of manslaughter in the death of her son.

Moulton said she understands from talking with prosecutors that they have six months to bring the case to trial and a warrant would be issued for the arrest of the driver who had lost control of her vehicle and slammed into a rental car driven by Moulton with her son in the front passenger seat.

Second Circuit Court officials said last week that grand jury indictments are not released publicly until a defendant is arrested. Calls to the prosecutor's office on Monday were not returned.

In a negligence lawsuit filed in 2nd Circuit Court last year, the driver of the other vehicle was identified as Brittney Mooney, 25, who was a Lahaina resident at the time of the collision.

Witnesses saw Mooney driving recklessly in her 2003 Mazda sedan before she crashed into Moulton's rented Chevrolet Malibu. The impact of the crash was so great that the Mazda was broken in half.

Moulton said she understands prosecutors don't know where to locate Mooney.

"She was in Las Vegas at one point, (but) she's no longer there," she said.

Moulton said she's been waiting patiently for two years and believes the case is in the "right hands."

"You have to be patient and let them do their job," she said, noting that she has compassion for Mooney.

"I feel for this girl," she said. "This is her home . . . I know she's been on the run for the past couple of years."

Moulton said she didn't know if Mooney has been served legal papers from the negligence lawsuit filed against her. But she said she believes her attorneys have been in touch with Mooney's lawyer.

"Even her attorney doesn't know where she is," Moulton said.

Mooney's Honolulu attorney, Ronald Shigekane, who represents her in the civil lawsuit, confirmed Tuesday that he does not know his client's location. He had no other comment. Court records show Mooney was served papers in the civil case.

First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Peter Hanano said Tuesday that he couldn't comment on an ongoing prosecution arising from a confidential grand jury proceeding.

While not commenting on Mooney's case, he said that in grand jury indictments, judges typically issue arrest warrants for people charged with crimes. Police then work on serving the warrant on the suspect in or out of state, he said.

In cases where a suspect is out of state, information is submitted to a national database for law enforcement officials in other states to be on the lookout for a suspect, Hanano said.

Moulton said she is seeking justice for her son's sake and for friends and family members who have been emotionally shaken after her son's death.

"I see them hurting," she said.

When asked if she wants to see Mooney spend time behind bars, Moulton said: "She may need to lose her freedom for a little while to make her realize what's important in life."

During her grand jury testimony, Moulton said she tried to be strong and not break down while she shared details of the crash.

But while she was testifying, she looked around and saw "a lot of people with tears in their eyes," she said. "I tried not to look at them."

Of all the memories she shared with members of the grand jury, the most painful for Moulton was recalling how hard Will fought for life on the operating table.

"I was praying so hard," she said. "I wanted to feel that he was going to be OK."

At the hospital, Will's heart stopped and was restarted a number of times, she said.

"He had such a strong heart," she said. "He was fighting so hard to stay here. He had such a huge heart. He was such a compassionate little boy. He was arguing with God that he wanted to stay here.

"It's a sad story," she said. "It's something you never think will happen to you."

Moulton said she thinks about the crash every day, refusing to push the painful memories out of her mind because "that wouldn't be right for Will."

"It's important to me that Will will never be forgotten," she said.

Moulton said she sees a great need for more highway safety and more compassion in the community.

If she gets angry, it's when she sees motorists take unnecessary risks on the road, being in a hurry and pulling out in front of other drivers.

"I'm a little jumpy in a car," she said. "When I drive, I take my time. I'm in no hurry because I see all the pain it's caused."

Moulton said she has been spending more time on Maui and less at her residence in San Antonio because she has so many memories of her son in Texas and it's been "so difficult."

She said it's been hard to see the effect of Will's death on family members, including her parents, who have "aged a lot" in the past couple of years. She said her sister, Sissy Ledlow, "has a lot of anger she's dealing with."

Moulton continues to cope with her own physical scars. She said she believes she might have sustained internal injuries to her lower abdomen, which was compressed by her seat belt during the collision.

She said she has seen a fertility specialist in an effort to conceive another child, but she has been unable to do so. She said she believes she may have suffered internal injuries that have impaired her ability to have another child.

* Brian Perry can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.