Man, 27, guilty in stabbing of infant

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A 27-year-old Holualoa man was convicted of first-degree assault yesterday for stabbing his 5-month-old son in the abdomen last year.

Jerry Francis Liquie faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced July 11.

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 subsequent 911 call told police he heard Liquie say he stabbed the infant with a hunting knife.

Liquie 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.

Kona Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance instead issued a guilty verdict to the lesser charge of first-degree assault.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Liquie suffered from mental illness that may have been triggered or aggravated by his methamphetamine and cocaine use as a teenager. Testimony indicated he had not been taking his medication because he said he could not afford it.

Deputy Prosecutor Linda Walton argued that Liquie was able to understand what he did was wrong, citing a statement he made on the 911 tape that "I'm going to jail."