HONOLULU (AP) — The son of a Hawaii Marine was about 3 months old when he was rushed unconscious to a base fire station last year. The baby spent the rest of his short life unconscious, at a hospital and
HONOLULU (AP) — The son of a Hawaii Marine was about 3 months old when he was rushed unconscious to a base fire station last year.
The baby spent the rest of his short life unconscious, at a hospital and then at a long-term care facility. Those details emerged after the 14-month-old child died Monday at a Honolulu hospital and as the military investigates his death as a homicide.
Marine Corps Base Hawaii started a child abuse investigation last March 19 when Zayden Lonergan arrived at the fire station. Honolulu police later turned the investigation over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
“His parents drove him to a fire station and paramedics transported him to the hospital, where he was found to have skull fractures,” NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said. “The baby never regained consciousness after the incident last March.”
The Honolulu medical examiner’s office said an autopsy conducted Tuesday showed the cause of death to be “complications of cranial cerebral injuries due to abusive head trauma” and that the manner of death was a homicide. No one was in custody and no charges have been filed, Buice said.
Zayden’s father, Sgt. David Lonergan, is an active duty Marine stationed at the base and is not currently deployed, said 1st Lt. Diann Olson, a base spokeswoman. The Marine lived on the base with his girlfriend.
