Mom whose baby died when left in car due in court this afternoon

By Register Online staff

A hearing takes place this afternoon in Napa for the Angwin mother whose baby died when she left the infant in the family car for more than six hours.

Haley Wesley is due in court at 3 p.m. on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her 10-month-old daughter Maddison.

Maddison was found dead, secured in her child safety seat in the back seat of the family’s Honda on May 18, 2007. The car was parked in front of the family’s home on College Avenue in Angwin.

At Wesley’s preliminary hearing last October, Napa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kroyer ruled the baby’s death was an incredible, horrible mistake and Wesley had no criminal intent in Maddison’s death, tossing out the criminal charges.

On Feb. 13, however, Napa County Superior Court Judge Diane Price overruled Kroyer's decision that insufficient evidence existed to charge Wesley, and Wesley was again charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Wesley, along with her daughter, had left Angwin that morning to visit friends in Napa. Realizing she would be late for her job at Pacific Union College in Angwin, Wesley put Maddison in the back seat of the Honda and headed for work, arriving at PUC around 9 a.m.

Because she was late for work, she worked through her lunch hour and left PUC around 3 p.m., and drove home, police said. After being in the house for a short time, she left — thinking it was time to pick up her daughter at day care — and found the child unresponsive in the back seat.

Wesley took Maddison into the house, started CPR and called 911. Neighbors called Wesley’s husband at work. The baby was taken to St. Helena where she was pronounced dead.

Check back later in the day for a story on the hearing.

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