Spring Valley woman facing charges after 1-year-old dies while alone with 2 other young siblings

Officers were called to an apartment at 101 Kennedy Drive after the toddler was found unresponsive, trapped between a bed and a wall.

News 12 Staff

Jun 21, 2021, 9:14 PM

Updated 1,259 days ago

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A Spring Valley woman is facing manslaughter charges after her 1-year-old son died over the weekend.
Officers were called to an apartment at 101 Kennedy Drive after the toddler was found unresponsive, trapped between a bed and a wall.
Police were unable to save the boy after they managed to free him from where he was trapped and unresponsive on Saturday.
Spring Valley police say the boy was left alone in an apartment with his 2-year-old and 6-year-old siblings, and that no one else was home.
The 6-year-old realized something was wrong, and ran to a neighbor who called 911.
First responders performed CPR before the 1-year-old was transported to Nyack Hospital, where he died.
Marie Dorleus, the mother of the three children, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter.
"The biggest thing we can takeaway is to reiterate to parents to make sure you keep an eye out on your children even if you step away for a minute, something devastating like this can happen. It can happen to anyone. And it's unfortunate this took place," says Spring Valley Police Department Detective Matthew Galli.
Dorleus's two surviving children are now in the custody of Child Protective Services, according to Spring Valley police.
Galli says they didn't have any records of past police calls to that apartment.