HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
KONA CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
LIEUTENANT HENRY W. HICKMAN
PHONE: 326-4203
MARCH 29, 2003
H-43061
MEDIA RELEASE
Police have reclassified the case of the death of a 2-month-old Ka’u infant Monday (March 24, 2003) from a coroner’s inquest to a manslaughter investigation.
Kona Criminal Investigation Section detectives reclassified the case after preliminary autopsy results indicated that the infant died of “abusive head trauma.”
The victim was identified as Kaikela Medeiros-Dancel, of a Kahuku address in Ka’u. The boy was pronounced dead at 5:29 p.m. Monday at the Ka’u Community Hospital.
The child’s father had called the police 911 emergency number from home, saying the infant was having trouble breathing. Fire rescue personnel arrived at the residence, tried to revive the baby and took it to the Ka’u hospital.
Police had initiated a standard coroner’s inquest, but changed the classification of the case after the preliminary autopsy results were announced on Friday.
No arrests have been made in the case, and Kona CIS detectives are continuing the investigation to determine the manner of the child’s death.
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