Boy died of head trauma, results of autopsy show

A 3-year-old Big Island boy died July 25 in a Kamuela foster home, but the autopsy results were only received Feb. 22 by police, Hawaii County police said Monday.

Seven months after the death of Fabian Garett-­Garcia, police said the pathologist found he died of blunt force head trauma but that the manner of death is “undetermined.”

Police told the biological parents of the boy that they are not suspects in the case, said attorney Jeffrey Foster, who represents them in their son’s death.

Hospital records show the child was covered with bruises when he arrived July 25 at North Hawaii Community Hospital, where he died, and hospital personnel suspected abuse.

Police and fire personnel responded to a call at 7:18 p.m. from the boy’s Kamuela foster home. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Foster, the attorney, shared with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the boy’s records, which detail his injuries.

The records indicate the boy’s eyes were bleeding. He had bruising around his right eye and on his right forehead, left eyelid, right cheek, left chin, neck, right forearm, both knees, left shoulder blade and left flank.

The hospital report shows the boy had been under the foster parents’ care since January 2017.

The foster parents told hospital personnel they found him facedown in his own vomit, unresponsive. They called 911 and the foster dad performed CPR.

The EMS report shows the foster parents told EMS that the 3-year-old was playing and wearing a virtual reality headset July 12, 13 days earlier, and that he suffered a fall and injuries to his face and head.

When EMS asked the foster parents whether they took him to a doctor after the fall, they said no.

Police Lt. Sherry Bird said she would not release further details of the autopsy report since the investigation is ongoing. The autopsy was conducted two days after the boy’s death.

When asked about the length of time it took for the pathologist’s conclusion, Bird explained that the pathologist had to go through her literature, which takes time, rather than making a rash judgment.

The pathologist could not be reached for comment.

The boy’s parents, Juben Garcia and Sherri Garett, are under a gag order by the court not to speak to the media. Foster, their attorney, said the couple did not abuse their children, and temporarily lost custody for other reasons and have since had their other children returned to them.

They received the brief findings of the autopsy Thursday through police but have been denied a complete report.

They issued the following statement in part: “Since Fabian’s death, we have lived every day in a parent’s worst nightmare. Not only have we had to process the heart-shattering loss of our baby boy, but we’ve also had to deal with his loss not knowing how he died or who may have done this to our son.

“One of our biggest and most challenging struggles has been answering questions from Fabian’s younger siblings about why Fabian is no longer with us. We are doing our best to manage the grief through our faith in God and the support of our ohana, friends and community.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Carrie Akina at 326-4646, ext. 277, or carrie.akina@hawaiicounty.gov.