Father to be tried in beating of infant

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

A 32-year-old man has been ordered to stand trial on a charge that he beat his 6-month-old son April 6-7 in a Waikiki hotel.

Anthony K. Chatman of Waikiki is charged with one count of second-degree attempted murder and is accused of severely beating his son Tyson Suzuki and throwing the child on to a bed at the Ambassador Hotel in Waikiki. The boy suffered brain damage, as well as bruises over his eye, and on his chest, ear and face, and he remains in Kapi'olani Medical Center.

District Judge Marcia Waldorf ruled yesterday that there was enough evidence to uphold the charge and ordered Chatman to stand trial in Circuit Court. Chatman, who remains free on $50,000 bail, will be arraigned May 2.

Yesterday, Asahi Suzuki, Tyson's mother, continued her testimony at Chatman's preliminary hearing. On Tuesday she testified that she saw Chatman use his thumb to repeatedly push Tyson's head back in their hotel room.

Chatman also struck Tyson with an open hand to the side of his body, Suzuki said through an interpreter. He then picked up the boy and threw him on the bed, pushed Tyson's face into the bed and hit him, she said

The mother said Chatman told her in Japanese, "I don't want it," referring to their child. Suzuki testified that she also saw Chatman putting his fingers in Tyson's mouth and she feared that the child could not breathe.

Suzuki said she did not call police because she was afraid for her safety.

This is not the first time that a child of Chatman's has been physically abused. In 1995, his 4-month-old daughter was diagnosed as suffering from shaken baby syndrome with damage to her brain and central nervous system.

The girl's baby sitter, who like Suzuki is a Japanese national, was charged with first-degree assault in that case. But the charges were dropped at her preliminary hearing after medical evidence indicated she did not commit the crime.

Authorities turned their attention to Chatman and his wife, but no other charges were filed in that case. City deputy prosecutor Dan Oyasato, who is handling the Tyson Suzuki case, said he believes that the period covered by the statute of limitations has lapsed, so no charges can be filed.