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The parents of a 14-month-old boy who died after being unconscious for at least a year from what turned out to be fatal head injuries were arrested in connection with their son’s death Wednesday in Nevada.
Former Kaneohe Marine Sgt. David R. Lonergan and his girlfriend, Tracy Noelani Mattos, appeared in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas late Wednesday afternoon on a charge of voluntary manslaughter.
A federal grand jury in Honolulu returned a secret indictment Aug. 2 charging Lonergan and Mattos with causing the Feb. 27 death of their son, Zayden Lonergan. They are free on bail pending their appearance in U.S. District Court in Honolulu on Aug. 20 to answer to the manslaughter charge.
According to the indictment, David Lonergan and Mattos killed their son by failing to get him timely medical treatment from about Jan. 21 to March 19, 2011. The indictment does not indicate who caused the fatal head injuries.
Military officials said the boy was taken unconscious to the Marine Corps Base Hawaii federal fire station on March 19 last year. From there he was transferred to Castle Medical Center, where hospital officials determined he had skull fractures.
Zayden Lonergan later went to a care facility in Ewa Beach until he was transported to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children on Feb. 23. He died four days later, having never regained consciousness.
The Honolulu medical examiner determined he died from "complications of cranial cerebral injuries due to abusive head trauma," and classified the death as a homicide.
