Attempted-murder The father of a 6-month-old boy is scheduled to be in court today to face charges that he attempted to murder his son to get him to stop crying.
case in court
Anthony Chatman allegedly
struck his 6-month-old sonBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comAccording to a Honolulu police report, Anthony K. Chatman, 32, hit his son Taison, then dropped the child on a hotel bed several times on April 6 and 7. Police said the incident took place in Room 1604 of the Ambassador Hotel at 2040 Kuhio Ave.
The police report states that a day after the incident, Kapiolani Medical Center doctors diagnosed the infant with internal bleeding between his skull and brain, bleeding in his right eye, and bruises on his head and collarbone. Police said the child has been brain-dead since Friday, but did not comment as to whether he is still on life support.
According to the police report, the boy's mother witnessed the assault but did not interfere "for fear of being struck by Chatman."
The report states Chatman first struck the child with an open hand, then dropped him on the hotel bed face first and held him down by the back of his neck. Police said that according to the victim's mother, Chatman then picked up the boy and threw him back down on the bed, first on his back, then on his front side.
The police report states that while Chatman repeatedly dropped the child, he was "shouting at Taison to stop crying." According to a Kapiolani radiologist interviewed by police, the infant's injuries suggested "shaken impact syndrome, in which the child is vigorously shaken and slammed down on something solid."
Police arrested Chatman for second-degree assault on April 9 and later charged him with attempted murder.
Chatman's preliminary hearing scheduled for this afternoon is to determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial. Chatman is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.