When Dr. Shirley Domingo treated a savagely beaten man Tuesday at The Queen's Medical Center, she did not recognize the victim as her father.

Domingo didn't learn the truth until "later that evening when my brother called me," she said at a news conference yesterday.

"It was a shock to me," Domingo said as tears tracked down her face.

Damaso Domingo, 54, died Thursday evening, two days after he was attacked by two unidentified men at 2 a.m. Tuesday near the corner of North School Street and Lanakila Avenue.

Domingo, her mother and other family members appeared yesterday at a Honolulu Police CrimeStoppers press conference, asking for the public's help in identifying the killers.

"He was a kind, gentle person, generous to a fault," the physician said. "I can't imagine why anyone would do this to him."

Police Sgt. Kim Buffett, coordinator of the CrimeStoppers program, said witnesses saw the two suspects walking away from Domingo after an "exchange of words" with them on the sidewalk.

"We really want to find these two," Buffett said, calling the attack "a senseless crime."

Shirley Domingo said she was the attending physician in the Intensive Care Unit at Queen's and treated her father after his condition had been stabilized in the emergency room.

She said she hadn't seen Domingo since she returned here from residency training on the Mainland in July.

"I had not been in touch with my father in a while," she said.

Her parents were divorced, and the victim's ex-wife said at the press conference that he had remarried while living on the Mainland. The widow, who was not identified, still lives on the Mainland.

Domingo is survived by a son and another daughter as well as eight grandchildren, Shirley Domingo said.

She said that when her father was brought to Queen's, he was in critical condition with a "severe head injury."

Domingo's ex-wife said he had worked in the past as a truck driver but was unemployed and was living in public housing, taking care of his disabled mother.

ROBBERY NOT A MOTIVE

Buffett said robbery is not believed to have been a motive for the attack. Domingo had left his wallet at home and family members said he may have been walking to a nearby store to buy cigarettes.

Buffett said police believe the attackers may live in the neighborhood because they were walking toward Lanakila public housing after the assault and did not get into a vehicle.

"If they live in that area, then someone's going to know them," she said.

Both suspects were described as local males in their 20s. One was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and wearing a black-and-white shirt. The other was described as 6 feet tall, 220 pounds and wearing a blue shirt and long pants.

Anyone with information is urged to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300. Calls are anonymous and confidential. A reward of $1,000 will be paid for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.