An expert testifying on behalf of Matthew Higa, on trial on a charge of killing a baby, said he would be surprised if Higa told police 23-month-old Cyrus Belt was alive on a pedestrian overpass before plunging onto the H-1 freeway.

But that is what Higa told police the day after Belt's death, according to the transcript of a police interview admitted into evidence yesterday.

Higa, 25, is on trial in Circuit Court for murder in connection with Belt's Jan. 17, 2008, death.

A police homicide detective asked Higa, “;Was the baby crying or kicking or yelling?”;

Higa said, “;Yeah.”;

The detective then asked the three questions separately—was the baby yelling, was it crying and was it moving its arms and legs?

Higa responded “;Yeah”; to each question, according to the transcript.

  Matthew Higa Begins His Defense

 

Matthew Higa was either a drugged-out killer or a fool who thought he was disposing of a dead baby.

[ Watch ]

 

In the interview, Higa also told police a woman gave him the baby on the overpass and told him to kill it before her husband did.

A witness has already testified he did not see anyone else on the overpass when Higa threw Belt onto the freeway.

Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario accepted the transcript of the entire interview taped at Honolulu Police Department headquarters.

Higa's lawyer says Higa is not guilty of murder because Belt was already dead when he plunged off the overpass.

The witness who saw Higa on the overpass and a passenger in the truck that ran over Belt's body on the freeway said the toddler was not moving as it cartwheeled off the overpass.

The expert, forensic pathologist James Navin, said based on the witnesses observations, “I think there is a distinct possibility the baby was dead or unconscious.”