Maui man charged with attempted child murder begins trial

WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A trial began Friday for a Maui man charged with attempted murder of an infant.

The disturbing case began three years ago when a good Samaritan noticed signs of child abuse and called 911.

On Friday afternoon, a jury was selected, opening statements began and the jury listened to testimony from two witnesses – the good Samaritan and a police officer.

Christian Rosete, 30, faces five charges, including attempted murder, assault and abuse.

He is accused of repeatedly beating his girlfriend Passion Quirk’s 11-month-old son in 2021.

Court documents state the baby had bruises on his face, bite marks on his arm, a burn on his leg and a fractured wrist. They also said he suffered from bleeding in both eyes, a detached retina, brain hemorrhages and was extremely malnourished.

“The defendant held him by the neck, his fingers wrapped around the baby’s throat in a threatening manner, strangling him. The defendant then placed the baby on the floor, placed a pillow over his face and placed his knee on the baby’s head,” prosecutor Andrew Martin told the jury in his opening statement.

Shantel Legsay, a waitress at O’Lei’s Cafe in the Dunes at the time, noticed that the baby had alarming injuries when he was brought in by Quirk and Quirk’s grandmother.

“He was gurgling. His eyes were rolling. I noticed he had blue on his forehead and his back, and he was just very… it’s an image you can’t get out of your head,” Legsay said on the stand. “He was only wearing a diaper. He was very skinny. They suggested they were going to take him. When she got up, he went limp. So I panicked even more.”

Quirk was also charged with attempted murder for failing to notify authorities of child abuse.

However, she agreed to a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault in April this year in exchange for her testimony against Rosete.

The defense attorney told jurors that Quirk was the attacker and that his client was innocent.

“He’s the scapegoat for Passion Quirk. She has to blame someone else for what happened in order to save herself,” Pamela Lundquist said. “We all agree that what happened … was a terrible tragedy. But don’t compound that tragedy by convicting an innocent man.”

Rosete faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.