By Kevin Dayton

Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island man who admitted to stabbing his 5-month-old son in the abdomen last year was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison Monday.

Kona Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance also ordered that Jerry Francis Liquie must serve at least three years and four months in prison because the victim was less than 8 years old, said Deputy Prosecutor Linda Walton.

The baby, Jacques Liquie, suffered a punctured colon in the Oct. 1 attack but has recovered.

According to a police affidavit filed in Kona Circuit Court, the child's mother said Liquie awakened her and told her, "I thought baby was hurting you; I tried to kill him."

A firefighter who responded to the 911 call told police he heard Liquie say he stabbed the infant with a hunting knife.

Liquie, 27, was charged with second-degree attempted murder, but Deputy Public Defender Peter Bresciani argued during the nonjury trial that Liquie should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Judge Strance instead convicted Liquie of the lesser charge of first-degree assault.

According to evidence presented, Liquie suffered from mental illness, possibly triggered by drug use, and had not been taking medication because he said he could not afford it.