A 28-year-old Kapahulu man was charged yesterday with the brutal beating of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son Tuesday.

Samita Hall of Herbert Street was charged with one count each of first-degree assault and third-degree assault. His bail was set at $100,000.

Hall is accused of punching and slapping the boy in their home while the child screamed for him to "stop," according to court documents. The boy suffered severe head injuries and was taken to Kapi'olani Medical Center in critical condition.

Police were sent to the Kapahulu home Tuesday afternoon after the boy's two uncles reported that their nephew was being abused by his mother's boyfriend, according to a police affidavit filed in District Court. An officer at the scene said he found the boy in a bedroom and the child was "incoherent, with his eyes rolling back, and falling in and out of consciousness," the affidavit said.

The boy's face was swollen and red and there was redness to his neck and forehead, the affidavit said. The officer said he carried the boy to his patrol car and attempted to keep him awake until an ambulance arrived.

When the boy arrived at the hospital, he stopped breathing and was put in a medically induced coma, police said.

The boy's older sister told police that she saw a man, identified in the affidavit as Hall, beating her brother while he was on a bed. The girl said she was peeking through the door that was slightly ajar and saw Hall punching the boy on the head, the affidavit said.

She said she also heard slapping and pounding on the wall and that her brother was screaming for the beating to stop.

Another man who lives in the home told police he heard what sounded like "three to four slaps, thumping noises, followed by the screams" that he recognized as the boy. Hall is listed in court documents as being 5 feet 10 and 300 pounds.

Police arrested Hall at the scene. He also was charged with assaulting one of the boy's uncles.

Tuesday's incident was the second involving Hall and the alleged beating of a child.

In March 1999, Hall was accused of shaking his infant son so violently that the 6-week-old boy suffered brain damage. Hall was charged with attempted murder, but was acquitted by a jury in July 2000.

Later that year, Hall pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of second-degree assault and was sentenced to a year in prison. But because he had been in custody for more than a year, Hall was not required to spend any more time behind bars.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.