Mom pleads guilty for death of child after she left her three young kids home alone

Adam Devine

SPRING VALLEY, NY – Rockland County District Attorney Tom Walsh announced the guilty plea of a Spring Valley woman stemming from the investigation into the June 19, 2021, death of her one-year-old son. Defendant Marie Dorleus, 36, of Spring Valley, NY, pled guilty, before the Honorable Kevin F. Russo in Rockland County Court, to one count of Criminally Negligent Homicide.

Dorleus admitted that on June 19, 2021, she left her three small children unsupervised for several hours in their family home in Spring Valley. While the children were alone, the defendant’s one-year-old son became stuck in the a box spring leaning against a wall in the defendant’s bedroom. The small child ultimately asphyxiated and was pronounced dead at Nyack Hospital later that evening.

At the time of her plea, the defendant admitted to knowing of the box spring’s placement and that her children had access to that area of the home. The matter was investigated by the Village of Spring Valley Police Department, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Special Victims Unit of the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Devlin.

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The matter is scheduled for sentencing on December 15, 2021; the People will be asking the Court to sentence the defendant to the maximum period of State Prison permitted by law, which is one and onethird years to four years in State Prison.


“Any loss of life is tragic but losing a child strikes the very heart and soul of our community. 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. The Rockland County District Attorney’s Offices Special Victim’s Unit is committed to ensuring justice for the most vulnerable of victims here in Rockland County. I would like to personally commend the work of the Spring Valley Police Department and other agencies involved in this difficult case, said Rockland County District Attorney Tom Walsh.”


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