Trial of Maui man accused of beating 11-month-old baby completes | News

MAUI COUNTY, Hawaii (Island News) – Attorneys engaged in a heated debate in a Wailuku courtroom Friday as they made closing arguments in the attempted murder trial of 30-year-old Christian Rosete.

The defendant is accused of beating his ex-girlfriend's 11-month-old son, Passion Quirk, 26, in 2021.

The baby was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, including a skull fracture and bleeding in both eyes and the brain.

Quirk was originally charged with failing to report Rosete and seek medical care for her son, but in exchange for her testimony against Rosete, she took a plea deal that reduced her sentence to ten years.

“(The allegations) come from a woman with a motive to lie, which means 50 to 60 years less prison time,” Rosete's defense attorney Pamela Lundquist said.

In addition, Lundquist claimed that Quirk's statements to authorities years ago did not match her testimony in court, particularly when she accused Rosete of pushing a pillow into the baby's face while his knee was on it.

However, prosecutors argued that Rosete had abused and manipulated Quirk and that she had wanted to protect him at the time of the investigation.

“We're not here to convince you that she's a good mother, a great mother,” said prosecutor Andrew Martin.

“We need to understand why she did what she did, why she said what she did,” she said.

Martin mentioned a text message he called the “cornerstone” of the case, in which Rosete responded to Quirk saying the child was in protective custody.

In short, Rosete said, “This is all my fault,” and if he had taken his own life, none of this would have happened.

“You know exactly what day he's talking about. It's the day he held (the child) in his hand, threw him to the ground and strangled him,” Martin said.

“The strangulation of an 11-month-old child alone is enough to find a defendant guilty of attempted murder (verdict).”

Regarding Quirk's allegations, Lundquist said: “This story is not true, it is not credible, it has changed dramatically over time, conveniently just before the trial. It should not be believed.”

The jury's deliberations began on Friday afternoon and are scheduled to continue on Monday morning.