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Rockland County resident Marie Dorleus, age 36, of Spring Valley, pleaded guilty to one count of criminally negligent homicide following the investigation stemming from the June 2021 investigation into the death of her son.
Dorleus admitted that on Saturday, June 19, she left her three children unsupervised for several hours in their Rockland County home, and while they were alone, Dorleus’ 1-year-old child got stuck in a box spring leaning against a wall in her bedroom.
Prosecutors said that the child asphyxiated and was pronounced dead after being transported to Nyack Hospital.
At the time of her plea, Dorleus admitted to knowing of the box spring’s placement and that her children had access to that area of the home at the time of the incident.
Dorleus is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at which point prosecutors are expected to ask the judge to sentence her to the maximum prison term of between one and one-third to four years.
“Any loss of life is tragic, but losing a child strikes at the very heart and soul of our community,” prosecutors from the Rockland County District Attorney's Office stated. “What makes this case even more egregious is the fact that this heartbreaking loss of life was due to the child’s own mother’s negligence.”
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