Jury told baby died after head injury at sitter's

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A 6-month-old boy died at his Liliha baby sitter's home in September 1997 after someone inflicted a severe head injury on the child, a city prosecutor told a Circuit Court jury yesterday.

City Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Kim said Justin Cruz was fine when his parents dropped him off at the home of sitter Beryl Young at about 7:30 a.m. but that Young called the child's mother at about 3:50 p.m. and told her the baby wasn't breathing.

Elizabeth Cruz told Young to call an ambulance. Cruz and her husband, Reymando Cruz, arrived at Kapi'olani Medical Center and were told their son was dead on arrival, Kim said.

Young was charged with second-degree murder after a review in 2001 of an autopsy done within days of the boy's death in 1997. The review led to a determination by the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office that Justin's death resulted from a deliberate act.

But Young's lawyer, Howard Luke, told the jury that the autopsy done on the boy shortly after his death was inconclusive and listed sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS as a possible cause of death.

The review that was done four years later did not involve any new evidence and no new tests were done, Luke said. He said the evidence presented during the trial will show that Young did not strike or injure the boy in any way and that witnesses will testify that Young was not capable of harming the boy.

The trial resumes Monday.

Reach David Waite at 525-8030 or at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.