Accused child killer Matthew Higa may argue at trial that toddler Cyrus Belt was dead or unconscious before Higa allegedly dropped the child from a freeway overpass into oncoming traffic on Jan. 17, 2008.

Prosecuting Attorney Peter Carlisle said he has been notified of that possible defense theory of the crime.

"It's inappropriate for me to talk about the defenses raised by my opponent, the strength of it or how I plan to proceed strategically against it, but we have been appraised of it and we will be taking all appropriate steps to be properly prepared when that evidence is presented at trial, if it is presented," Carlisle said yesterday.

The child's mother, Nancy Chanco, said shortly after the crime that police told her H-1 Freeway cameras showed that her 23-month-old baby was not moving when he was thrown from the overpass.

That led her to believe the boy might have been dead or unconscious before he was thrown, Chanco said last year.

But the Medical Examiner's Office then released a statement that said an autopsy performed on Cyrus did "not show objective evidence to indicate that he was dead prior to being thrown off the pedestrian overpass."

Carlisle's comments came following a hearing on defense motions to suppress statements made by Higa immediately after he was arrested by police but before he was charged or warned of his constitutional rights against self-incrimination.

Defense lawyer Randall Oyama argued yesterday that the verbal exchanges between Higa and police amount to improper "custodial interrogation."

Various officers said from the witness stand that Higa spoke spontaneously, without any prompting or questioning by them.

The officer who first detained Higa, Kevin Ching, said, "As I was handcuffing him, he mumbled, 'I didn't mean to do it' and at that point I just told him, you know, shut up."

Officer Winston Leong said Higa "told me that a lady had given him the baby and told him to throw it off the overpass before her husband beats her up."

Leong and other officers said Higa repeatedly made similar statements to them, even after he was told to keep silent.

Three officers testified that they knew Higa from previous arrests and knew that he was a crystal methamphetamine user and was "mentally unstable."

The hearing continues today before Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario.

Higa, accused of second-degree murder, sat quietly during the hearing yesterday, dressed in a blue plastic prison jumpsuit.

Higa and his father lived in the same Punchbowl apartment building as Chanco and her son.