Mom whose baby died when left in car due in court this afternoon
By Register Online staff
1 p.m.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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napaao wrote on Mar 26, 2008 4:14 PM:
napaao wrote on Mar 26, 2008 4:19 PM:
lousy naive ignorant napan wrote on Mar 26, 2008 5:36 PM:
diehard4ever wrote on Mar 26, 2008 6:07 PM:
livesinangwin wrote on Mar 26, 2008 6:52 PM:
opiniagirl wrote on Mar 26, 2008 7:08 PM:
What you are suggesting is that this mother intentionally left her child in the car, intending to kill her.
Wow - pretty bold statement.
This was a horrible trajic accident! Nothing more...nothing less. Nothing that this state could do to this mother would cause her more anguish than the loss of her precious child, and the guilt she must feel.
Why add insult to injury? It's not going to prevent this from happening to another parent. You can't scare people into "remembering" not to forget by making an "example" of this suffering young mother. I'm sure that is not the "justice" that Madison would have wanted for her mommy. "
14obama wrote on Mar 28, 2008 7:34 PM: