BABY LEFT IN CAR

Published in the Asbury Park Press 08/23/05

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WESTAMPTON — Officials say they are investigating whether to charge a couple in the death of their 2-year-old son, who died Sunday after they left him in the family car for about 10 hours.

The parents Salieu Alghali, 40, and Kadie Mcrae, age not available, found their son, Sallu Alagi Alghali, about 2 p.m. Sunday in the back seat of their Toyota Camry, said First Assistant Burlington County Prosecutor Ray Milavsky.

Their son, Sallu, had been in the car since the family got home from a wedding about 4 a.m. and most likely died from exposure to excessive heat, Milavsky said.

People who gathered outside the family's Bentwood Drive home on Monday said the family declined comment.

Neighbors who rushed to help the family at the house Sunday afternoon described a horrific scene.

"They were crying, too," said Diana Cunningham, a neighbor who came to the house to help.

"The mom was very devastated. I knew she couldn't help her child because she was so devastated. She was laying on the floor next to him."

Cunningham rushed to the house, hoping to revive Sallu. In retrospect, Cunningham said he believes Sallu had been dead for some time.

"I couldn't get his head back. I was trying chest compressions after about two minutes. Then an EMT guy grabbed him right out from underneath me and ran with him and put him on a stretcher."

The family apparently forgot their 2-year-old was in the car when they went to bed in the predawn hours, Milavsky said.

They didn't realize the boy was in the car until they woke up early Sunday afternoon, he said.

Milavsky wouldn't say where the wedding was held or if the couple was drinking while there.

An autopsy was performed, he said, but results weren't released Monday.

The family, who have two other children ages 17 and 10, moved to Westampton less than a year ago, neighbors said.

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