Father gets life sentence for death of child
Advertiser Staff
An O'ahu man who was convicted in June of second-degree murder in the April 2000 death of his 3-week-old daughter was sentenced yesterday to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Advertiser library photo
Circuit Judge Sandra Simms ordered Darren Kawaa, 21, to serve at least 15 years of his sentence before being considered for parole because of the age of the victim.
Darren Kawaa said he bumped his daughter's head on a door.
Kawaa said during his trial that he was feeding the infant and bumped her head on a door as he took her into a bedroom.
But city Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Kim said Angel Saludares died from a blow to the head that fractured her skull.
Kawaa's lawyer, Chester Kanai, portrayed the infant as sickly almost from the moment she was born and said a number of people other than his client could have injured the girl.
At his sentencing yesterday, Kawaa blamed the girl's mother for her death.
