Father of 3-month-old baby who died after being left in hot car for hours facing charges

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The father of a 3-month-old baby who died after being left inside a hot car earlier this summer is now facing charges.

Led by an Allegheny County detective and followed by his lawyer, Khang Nguyen, 33, turned himself in to authorities to be arraigned Thursday morning. It’s the beginning the legal process for Nguyen nearly two months after the death of his three-month-old son, Kayden.

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“It’s horrific. It just adds injury to insult,” said Nguyen’s defense attorney, Bill Difenderfer. “He’s been mourning the death of his child and it’s extremely hard for him and the family.”

The medical examiner ruled young Kayden’s death was accidental, saying he died of hyperthermia after being left in the backseat of his father’s minivan on June 16.

A timeline in court filings, established through surveillance video, shows the infant was in the backseat of the car for more than six hours.

Nguyen and the young boy allegedly left the family’s Peters Twp., Washington County home before arriving at the Upper St. Clair nail salon where Nguyen works at 10:48 am.

Investigators believe baby Kayden was in the car until around 4:50 pm.

“The medical examiner ruled that it was an accident and it clearly was,” said Difenderfer. “What this achieves other than just really exacerbating the situation with the family, I don’t know.”

The criminal complaint states that Nguyen told police he forgot his young son was in the car with him and did not remember until his wife asked about the child when he got to his parents’ house in Upper St. Clair that evening.

Allegheny County authorities charged Nguyen with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, and reckless endangerment.

Difenderfer believes the charges are unwarranted.

“Criminal law looks at an individual’s state of mind and if in fact he unfortunately through a mental lapse of judgement didn’t remember or recall or have conscious knowledge that his child was in the car, how can you hold him criminally liable?” he questioned.

Nguyen is scheduled to be back in front of a judge on August 19 for a preliminary hearing.

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