THE death of a 3-year-old boy is not a homicide case, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho said after a status conference on Wednesday.
“This case is not about a homicide,” he added. “That is why the Office of the Attorney General did not file murder or manslaughter charges.”
The judge said he wants to avoid unnecessary delays, adding that the attorneys should focus on the facts of the case.
Following a jury trial in June, one of the two defendants, Stacey Laniyo, was found guilty of one count of child abuse.
Laniyo, through her court-appointed attorney, Mark Scoggins, filed a motion for a new trial on July 1, 2021, alleging that she did not receive a fair trial because of “prosecutorial misconduct.”
In an order dated Sept. 29, Judge Camacho scheduled a motion hearing on the defendant’s motion for a new trial for Oct. 15, 2021 at 10 a.m.
The judge will also hold a sentencing hearing for Laniyo on the same day, Oct. 15, at 2:30 p.m. in Courtroom 220A.
The judge reiterated that two doctors examined the minor child, and an autopsy confirmed that the child died from an internal stomach and throat infection totally unrelated to a physical strike to his leg.
“This case is about child abuse regarding the defendant, Stacey Laniyo, hitting a young child with a broomstick,” the judge said. “The incident of the broomstick happened many days before the child died from the unrelated internal infection. As tragic as the death of the child, the medical testimony is clear — the death of the child was not caused by the strike to his leg by the broomstick.”
The judge said the other defendant, Lynn Fitial, was charged in a separate case with child neglect for failing to provide medical treatment.
“Lynn Fitial has since passed away from her own illness,” the judge added.
The judge said an aunt of the child who testified during Laniyo’s trial “was not aware that the child died from an unrelated internal infection — the aunt had wrongly assumed that the child died from the strike to the leg by the broom.”
For this reason, the judge said, the court will give ample time at the sentencing hearing to family members of the child to speak if they wish to address the court.
Laniyo and Fitial were arrested following the death of a 3-year-old boy in March 2020. The boy was an adopted son of Fitial and was in the care of Laniyo.
Laniyo and Fitial were each charged with one count of child abuse. The court granted their request to have separate trials.
According to the prosecution, Laniyo struck the boy with a tree branch, a broom, or her hand or by biting him, “resulting in injury clearly beyond the scope of reasonable corporal punishment and harming or threatening the child’s physical or mental health and well-being.”
As for Lynn Fitial, the prosecution said she failed to provide medical care for the boy resulting in his death.
Judge Camacho initially recused himself from hearing Laniyo’s motion for a new trial.
In his previous recusal order, the judge stated that though the defense motion for a new trial focused on the actions and conduct of the prosecutor, he was concerned that there might be a conflict.
A footnote to his recent order stated: “On September 27, Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo reviewed the file and found based on the law that there was no conflict and it was proper for Judge Camacho to handle defendant’s motion for a new trial, as well as continue to preside on the case.”
