O'ahu man on trial in death of 3-week-old
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
An O'ahu man on trial in the beating death of his 3-week-old daughter told the teenage mother moments after the baby was born that he did not believe it was his, according to court testimony yesterday.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Candice Saludares said she was 15 when her daughter was born, March 25, 2000, and that she wanted the baby, whom she named Angel.
Defense attorney Chester Kanai said Darren Kawaa was a loving father to a baby who had medical problems since birth. Kawaa is charged with second-degree murder in the child's April 2000 death.
She said the girl's father, Darren Kawaa, lived with another woman in Makakilo until the birth. She was not happy about the situation but could not do anything about it, she said.
She testified that Kawaa told her he didn't think the girl was his because "it looked Mexican and did not have curly hair."
Deputy City Prosecutor Glenn Kim told the court that evidence would show that Kawaa, 21, was the last one to see the baby alive when he reported feeding her at about 3:30 a.m. April 15, 2000.
Kim said the city's chief medical examiner, Kanthi Von Guenthner, would testify that Angel Saludares died from a sudden blow to her head that fractured her skull and left her with a severe, and most likely fatal, brain injury.
Von Guenthner will testify that as many as six of the infant's ribs were broken at about the same time, and that several of her ribs had been broken previously and started to heal.
The prosecution will try to prove that Kawaa deliberately slammed his baby daughter's head into a hard object, and told detectives two days later that he had accidentally bumped her head against a door while carrying her, but that she did not appear to be seriously injured.
Kawaa's lawyer, Chester Kanai, told the jury that Angel Saludares began having serious medical problems within days of being born. On her third day, she was not acting normal, was not feeding and was crying incessantly, Kanai said. The infant was taken to Kapi'olani Medical Center, where she was kept for three days, Kanai said.
Even when she was returned to her mother, the baby was bleeding from the nose and mouth and had blood in her urine, Kanai said. The parents took her to the hospital again, but doctors could find nothing wrong, Kanai said.
He said an ambulance was called April 13 because the infant did not appear to be breathing properly.
Paramedics said there was nothing wrong, and told the parents it would cost $400 to $500 to transport the baby to Kapi'olani for a more thorough checkup, he said.
"Darren was a loving, caring, attentive father to baby," Kanai said. Kawaa was planning to take the infant to the doctor's office on the day of her death, but never got the chance, he said.
"This will be a case of 'whodunnit,' " Kanai said. He said Kawaa made the statement to detectives about possibly injuring his daughter because they told him he would not be released until he explained her head injury.
