Fort Saskatchewan father testifies he has no memory of killing his infant son

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Warning: this story contains descriptions of child abuse.

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The man charged with murdering his infant son in 2019 said he dreamt he was being attacked when he fatally injured the one-year-old boy in their Fort Saskatchewan home.

Damien Starrett took the stand in his own defense at his second-degree murder trial Tuesday. Defense lawyer Rory Ziv is pursuing a “not criminally responsible” defense, claiming his client suffered from a series of sleep disorders that caused him to behave as an “automaton” who could not have intended to kill his son.

Starrett is also charged with assault for punching his young daughter around the time of baby Ares’s death on Nov. 23, 2019.

The girl, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, told police Starrett flew into a rage when she woke him up from a nap, and he punched, stepped on and ultimately threw Ares across a room onto a couch.

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Starrett said Tuesday he doesn’t have any memory of hurting his children.

In his testimony, he said he got out of bed that day in pain, as usual, feeling the effects of previous back injuries. Starrett said he’s suffered from insomnia from an early age, and in late 2019, he said he was having extreme difficulty sleeping. He described nights of lying in bed for hours with his eyes closed, but never managing to fall asleep at all.

The man said he’d been on a “hamster wheel of medications” trying to address his pain and his sleep problems.

He said he hadn’t been able to work due to his back pain, and he and his wife had an argument about money. Starrett said the argument got “heated” and at one point he threw a plate against a wall.

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While his wife was at work that day, Starrett said he laid on the couch and kept an eye on the kids while they played and watched movies. He was also using Facebook on his cellphone, trying to help organize a vigil for a neighbor whose son had recently died in a car collision.

“Last thing I remember was I was on my phone. I had it above me. (My daughter) and Ares were just playing and watching TV,” he said.

After that, he said, “It’s like I got teleported in time.”

Starrett described becoming aware of his surroundings and seeing his daughter curled in a ball on the floor, looking afraid.

“(She) said, ‘Daddy, you hit him.’ I turn around to my right and there’s Ares on the f—ing ground.”

A recording of Starrett’s 911 call was played in court Tuesday. As the 911 operator tries to give instructions for CPR, frantic voices and screaming can be heard in the background.

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Starrett cried as he described seeing the extent of his son’s injuries.

He said he’d been having a dream that he was being attacked, and he was still confused about what was real as he called for help for Ares.

“I can remember this dream like it was yesterday, little glimpses of flashes of images in my mind.”

Starrett said he continues to suffer from night terrors that make him anxious about falling asleep — he described having a vivid dream where a man kicked in his door with a shotgun.

When he goes to bed now, he said he locks himself in his room so no one can come in and he can’t get out.

“I’m scared. I’m scared that this could happen again,” he said.

“It’s just the nightmares that really bother me a lot. And I get worried before I go to sleep. What if somebody comes in my room and wakes me up? What if my cats wake me up and I do something I don’t want to do?”

The defense is expected to continue questioning Starrett Wednesday.

—With files from Jonny Wakefield

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Twitter: @meksmith