Judge tosses charge against Angwin mom in baby's death

By MARSHA DORGAN
Napa Valley Register

The Angwin mother whose baby died after she forgot the child was strapped in the back seat of the family car will not be held to answer for a felony manslaughter charge.

On Tuesday, Napa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kroyer ruled Haley Wesley, 27, had no criminal intent in the death of her 10-month-old daughter, Maddison Wesley.

“This is an incredible horrible mistake to make. It’s the biggest mistake I have ever heard of in my life,” Kroyer said. “But what parent has not momentarily lost track of their children?”

Wesley found her daughter dead in her child safety seat in the back seat of her Honda Civic when she returned home from work on May 18. Wesley had forgotten to drop the baby off at day care that morning, and the child had been in the car seat from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., while her mother went about her daily duties at her job in the public relations department of Pacific Union College in Angwin.

Kroyer pointed out that there was no indication or evidence that Wesley intended to harm her baby. Wesley was charged with the felony count based on a section of the vehicle code that prohibits leaving a child under 6 alone inside a car.

“But in order to violate that code there must be lawful intent,” Kroyer said.

The maximum penalty for felony involuntary manslaughter is four years in state prison.

Napa County Deputy District Attorney Michelle Rollins said the prosecution was not making a case that Wesley intentionally left the baby in the car. “If that was the case we would have charged second-degree murder,” she said.

Rollins argued Wesley knew the baby was in the car seat.

“She is the one who put the baby there and left her. The child relied on her for her care. She had a duty to care for that child and failed to do so,” said Rollins.

Although Kroyer did not find sufficient evidence to hold Wesley to answer to the involuntary manslaughter, the case has been turned back over to the district attorney’s office.

“We will be reviewing the court’s ruling and rationale for that decision in determining whether or not charges are refiled against Ms. Haley. Regardless of the judge’s decision, or our future action in regards to it, this case is a terrible tragedy which could have and should have been avoided,” Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein wrote in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon.

“There are so many preventive measures a parent or caretaker can take to make certain this never happens. For example, putting the baby’s bag or a stuffed animal in the front seat as a reminder that a child is in the back seat. Other measures that could be taken include putting one’s briefcase, laptop and/or lunch in the back seat. I am absolutely certain that Ms. Haley will have to live with what happened the rest of her life and nothing any of us do will change that,” he said.

Packed courtroom

As at Wesley’s arraignment earlier this month, her family and friends packed the courtroom for her preliminary hearing on Tuesday. The crowd was so large that the bailiff had to let members of the public into the hearing in shifts.

A thunder of applause, along with sobbing and shouts of “thank you, judge,” exploded when Kroyer announced his ruling. Wesley collapsed into her husband’s arms as the two buried their heads on each other’s shoulders and wept. Wesley’s husband sat in the front row behind her during the hearing. He, along with his wife, sobbed frequently during the two-hour court proceeding.

Angwin volunteer firefighter Jeffrey Rogers was one of the first medics on scene after Wesley discovered her baby unresponsive in the car seat.

Rogers testified that when he arrived he saw the Honda in the driveway of the defendant’s home on College Avenue in Angwin. He said he went inside the home and found Wesley giving CPR to the baby. Rogers testified the baby was lying on her back on the floor.

“She was very hot. She had red and blue splotches on her body and her hands were clenched tight,” Rogers said.

He said he checked the baby for breathing and a pulse and found neither.

Angwin ambulance crews arrived shortly, and took Maddison to St. Helena Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Napa County Sheriff’s Detective Mike Milat, lead investigator on the case, testified he interviewed Wesley at the hospital emergency room that afternoon.

Milat said Wesley was crying and upset and spoke very quietly.

Milat testified Wesley said she and the baby left their Angwin home early and drove to Napa Valley Support Services in Napa, where Wesley used to work. She delivered a CD to the agency and showed off the baby to her former co-workers and clients, Milat said.

“She put the baby in the child safety seat, which faces to the rear, and headed back to work in Angwin,” he said.

Milat testified that Wesley told him Maddison fell asleep on the ride, and the only noise the mother heard from the child was when she was turning off Silverado Trail onto Deer Park Road.

“She said she was thinking she needed to drop Maddison off at day care,” Milat said. However, instead of turning onto Cold Springs Road, where the baby’s day care center is located, Wesley went straight to the parking lot at PUC.

“Did she give you any explanation why Maddison didn’t make it to day care?” Rollins asked.

“She said she had stayed up late the night before ... had a million things going on and has been absent-minded at times, but said there was no reason (the baby didn’t make it to day care,)” Milat testified.

Milat said Wesley parked the Honda with the windows rolled up in the sun in the PUC parking lot about 10 feet from her office around 9 a.m. He estimated temperatures that day were in the high 70s.

She left work about 3:15 p.m. and drove home. It was when she opened the passenger door to remove some items, he said, that she discovered Maddison. “She said she screamed and grabbed Maddison, who was warm and stiff, from the car seat. She went inside and called 911.”

Defense attorney Doug Pharr, who argued Maddison’s death was an “accident, a pure accident,” asked Napa County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Carlisle, who testified next, if he talked to Wesley’s neighbors.

“What vehicle did they say Mrs. Wesley usually drove to work?” Pharr asked.

“They said she usually drove the red pickup,” Carlisle said.

Pharr also asked Carlisle if he found any evidence during his investigation to suggest Wesley intentionally left the baby in the car.

“No,” Carlisle replied.

Carlisle said as part of his investigation, he searched the Wesley’s’ home.

One of the neighbors described the Wesleys as “good caring parents and said Maddison was their world,” Carlisle said. “Inside the home, I found a refrigerator full of food. There was baby food, crib, changing table, diapers, blankets and lots of family photos of Maddison and her parents. It appeared the baby was well cared for and loved by her parents.”

Forensic pathologist Onogan Ikechi, who performed Maddison’s autopsy, said the cause of death was heat stroke and severe dehydration.

“Otherwise the it appeared the child was healthy, well nourished and well groomed,” Ikechi testified.

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