Seven-week-old Maika Conrad K. Lawelawe-Westbrook was healthy and asleep on a living room sofa the day he died, his aunt said.

Natalee K. Westbrook told police that she left Maika alone for two or three minutes for a quick trip to the bathroom and when she returned found him unresponsive and face-down on the floor.

Court documents show that doctors found a large bruise on the left side of the baby's head. They also found internal bleeding in his skull and semi-detached retinas, signs of shaken baby syndrome.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner's office determined that Maika's death was from abusive head trauma and that the manner of death was homicide.

Accompanied by her attorney, Westbrook turned herself in at the main Honolulu police station on Tuesday and was arrested. She has been charged with second-degree murder and is free on $150,000 bail.

"The family doesn't believe, including the baby's mother, that she (Natalee) had anything to do with the baby's death," said Eric Seitz, Westbrook's attorney.

Court documents detailing the last moments of Maika's life were released yesterday, the same day that the infant's family laid him to rest in Mililani Memorial Park.

Dozens of family, friends and well-wishers filed into the Mililani Mortuary Mauka Chapel yesterday morning for visitation.

Family members declined to comment on the boy's death.

"Now is not the time," said Sonny Westbrook Sr., father of Natalee Westbrook and her sister Jessica, Maika's mother. "Not right now. Out of respect, we're asking for no coverage."

The elder Westbrook said he did not wish to make any other statement because he had too many other matters on his mind.

Lillian Koller, state Department of Human Services director, said Natalee Westbrook's 4-month-old daughter has been placed in foster care with a relative while she faces charges. Neither Natalee nor Maika's mother has a prior history with Child Welfare Services, she said.

"The death of 7-week-old Maika Lawelawe-Westbrook is tragic," Koller said.

BABY LEFT WITH AUNT

In court documents, police gave this account of what happened to Maika:

His mother left Maika with his aunt at 10:30 a.m. on May 9. The aunt said she fed Maika twice, burped him several times and changed his diaper once.

Natalee Westbrook told police she laid Maika on the sofa in the living room and positioned her back against the sofa, facing forward. The baby was on his left side. They fell asleep. She awoke first and left the baby asleep on the sofa.

Shortly after, she found Maika on the floor and yelled for help.

"She screamed and (her boyfriend) came out of another bedroom and asked what happened," according to the documents. "Natalee ran outside of her unit and asked her neighbor if he could help her ... Maika gasped once for breath on his own, but was still unresponsive," the neighbor told police.

The baby was taken to a hospital by Emergency Medical Services. He was pronounced dead at 4:16 a.m. the next day.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner's office conducted an autopsy on May 11. On May 26 the medical examiner's office determined that the cause of Maika's death was "abusive head trauma and the manner of death was a homicide."

Because of the injuries the infant suffered, his death was immediate, the medical examiner's office said.

HEAD TRAUMA

Dr. Kanthi De Alwis, Honolulu Medical Examiner, said shaken baby syndrome is not the official designation of Maika's death. She said the injuries he suffered are called abusive head trauma, meaning trauma to the head that can be caused by shaking or other means.

"The brain is very delicate at this age," De Alwis said. "An infant brain is much softer than an adult brain and any shaken impact can cause an injury and severe damage."

An estimated 1,200 to 1,400 cases of shaken baby syndrome occur each year in the United States, according to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome Web site.

Shaken babies often are the result of domestic violence, or the result of a lack of parenting/caregiving skills, said Angie Doi, Child & Family Services administrator.

"It's about an inability to cope in a stressful situation," Doi said. "We don't know if the baby was crying or hard to console. It's hard to say until all the facts come out."