The case of a Schofield Barracks soldier charged last month with beating his 5-year-old daughter to death will be prosecuted by civilian authorities, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said yesterday.

The uncommon move — transferring the case from military to civilian prosecutors — was made so that the two people charged in the death of Talia Williams, Army Spc. Naeem Williams, and his wife, Delilah Williams, would be tried before the same judge and jury, Kubo said.

"Justice would best be served by having the defendants tried before the same court," Kubo said yesterday.

Talia died July 16 after she was beaten and knocked to the floor of her Wheeler Army Airfield apartment. An autopsy found she died of "inflicted head trauma due to battered child syndrome."

The military charged Naeem Williams, 25, with murder on July 28. Delilah Williams, 21, was indicted in federal court on a charge of first-degree murder on July 18.

In the past 15 years, six cases involving a member of the military have been turned over to federal prosecutors in Hawai'i, the U.S. attorney's office said.

"It's a rare instance," Kubo said. "Many times we defer to command."

Under federal law, both defendants now face life in prison or the death penalty. Naeem Williams did not face the death penalty under the military justice system.

However, Kubo said the transfer of the case was not done to make the death penalty an option.

Kubo said his main motivation was to prevent a "he said, she said" situation in an attempt to downplay any alleged role in Talia's death.

He said the case remains open and it is too early to decide whether his office has enough evidence to recommend the death penalty. Any recommendation would have to be approved by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, he said.

Prosecutors are filing charges against Naeem Williams based on a new federal provision that those who repeatedly engage in a "pattern and practice of assault and torture against a child" to the extent that the child dies may be charged with first-degree murder.

The provision was passed by Congress last year.

Agents with the FBI and Army Criminal Investigative Division continue to investigate the case, Kubo said.

The military yesterday declined to comment beyond a written statement that said the Army takes all incidents of domestic abuse very seriously.

"In the Williams case, the Army has fully cooperated with the U.S. Attorney for Hawai'i and the Department of Justice and will continue to support any requirements they may have," the statement said.

A phone call to Naeem Williams' civilian attorney, David Klein, seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Alexander Silvert, the deputy federal public defender representing Delilah Williams, said the handoff was not a surprise. He said it is too early to decide whether to ask for the cases to be tried separately.

He declined further comment.

Naeem Williams, who is from Orangeburg, S.C., made an initial court appearance yesterday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang, who ordered he be held without bail. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Aug. 24 for Naeem Williams, and his wife's preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 9.

Transferring Naeem Williams' case to civilian authorities "sounds to me like a very wise decision," said Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

"There really is a danger of severely disparate outcomes" if the cases are separated, said Fidell, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who is an expert on military law.

Such transfers are common in cases involving multiple defendants where at least one is a civilian and not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Fidell said. The Justice Department and the Department of Defense signed a memorandum of understanding affirming that view in 1984.

In other news, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a former probation officer, said he will be looking into whether the Army followed its own procedures for reporting and investigating child abuse complaints filed in the months before Talia's death.

"I am aware that there are allegations that credible reports were made to the proper authorities in the Army, and I'm following through to see if that's the case and if anything needs to be done to change the rules," he said yesterday from his office in Honolulu. "Whether individuals followed through with their obligations in the Army ... I will be asking them what they are doing to investigate that."

After Talia's death, questions were raised about how the military and state child welfare authorities dealt with reports of child abuse.

The Web site of the Times and Democrat newspaper in South Carolina reported that services for Talia will be held at 11 a.m. today in Orangeburg, S.C.