Parents arrested in child’s death

Police arrested on Sunday night the parents of a 3-year-old girl who died Friday after being declared clinically brain dead at the Commonwealth Health Center.

John Irving Mateo Calcena, 25, and Tracy Joy Inaba, 24, were brought to the Superior Court yesterday afternoon on charges of child abuse or neglect.

Associate Judge David Wiseman granted the government’s recommendation to impose a $5,000 cash bail for each defendant on charges of child abuse or neglect.

Investigators decided to arrest the couple after Guam chief medical examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola’s autopsy concluded that there was foul play behind the death of 3-year-old Tennessee.

Police said Espinola indicated that that the cause of death was subdural hemorrhage caused by a trauma from a blunt object.

Detective George David stated in his report that, according to Espinola, the trauma to Tennessee’s forehead was caused by a blunt object and appeared to be triangular in shape.

David said the pathologist indicated that the fatal blow to the head was not inflicted by a small child, but by an adult.

Espinola also found no evidence of an asthma attack or “shaken baby” syndrome.

Tennessee was taken by an ambulance to CHC on Jan. 17 after Calcena asked his relatives and neighbors to help him.

Calcena told police that he was lying on the couch in their house in Garapan watching TV while Tennessee and her two-year-old brother were playing in the bedroom.

Reportedly, the girl ran to Calcena, complaining of breathing difficulty. He massaged her on the chest, when suddenly her head tilted back.

Calcena called for help. Family members dialed 911. When medics arrived, they found that the girl had no pulse and was no longer breathing.

At that time, Inaba was at work.

The CT scan showed that the girl sustained severe brain injuries. She was brought to the intensive care unit and hooked up to a life support system.

Tennessee was then declared clinically brain dead. With no signs of hope for recovery, doctors discontinued her life support system on Jan. 20.

At 5:47pm that day, Tennessee was pronounced dead.

The following day, Espinola conducted his autopsy.

David said that, earlier that day, a neighbor had told Inaba that Tennessee had a lump on the forehead. Inaba allegedly stated she did not notice it and that later the child claimed she bumped her head on a chair.

David said Espinola noted three separate fatal blows to the head—one to the front and two to the back.

Tennessee had a bruise on the belly, which was deep and not superficial and was also caused by a blunt object, the detective said.

David said two CHC doctors also confirmed that the head injuries may have been caused by excessive force inflicted using a blunt object.

The detective said he has information and reason to believe that the couple is likely to flee to the Philippines to avoid prosecution.

Some friends and co-workers of the couple said they don’t believe that the couple would inflict injuries on the child. They said the couple love Tennessee very much.

Tennessee was born in the Philippines. She came to Saipan in August 2005.