Peters man charged in death of infant son left in hot van for hours

A father who told police he forgot his infant son in a hot van for hours in Upper St. Clair in June has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to police.

Khang Nguyen, 33, said he’d left 3-month-old Kayden in his 2022 Toyota Sienna shortly before 11 a.m. on June 16 and forgot he was there until after 4:30 p.m.

According to the criminal complaint, Nguyen, of Peters, told detectives he’d intended to leave the child in the van outside his family’s nail salon business on Sienna Drive. He said he left the van running with the air conditioning on and knew it would shut off automatically in one hour.

Archival weather data shows the high temperature June 16 was 91 degrees shortly before 4 p.m.

Nguyen said he wanted to run into the nail salon to pay an employee and make a few phone calls, according to the complaint. He ended up staying at the salon until it was time to pick up his other son at the Goddard School after 4 p.m.

Investigators said Nguyen told them he did not notice Kayden in his car seat, which was in the van’s middle row behind the passenger seat, when he got out at the salon or when he got back in. He said he did not notice him when he buckled his other son into his car seat next to Kayden, nor did he notice when he took his other son out of the van at his parents’ house, according to the complaint.

Security footage from the nail salon showed Nguyen arriving at the business about 10:50 a.m., where he stayed until about 4:20 p.m., during which time he made calls, checked on customers and gave pedicures, according to the complaint.

Separate security footage from Nguyen’s parents’ home on Fort Couch Road shows him arriving just after 4:45 p.m., where he took his other son out and into the home. Less than a minute later, according to the complaint, Nguyen runs back outside and takes Kayden’s car seat into the house.

Cameras inside the home showed Nguyen pacing around the house with the child in his arms. Police noted in the complaint the child was motionless and gray. Investigators said audio from the video indicates that Nguyen ignored pleas from his parents to start CPR and get help, according to the complaint.

The child was pronounced dead at the home on Fort Couch Road shortly before 5:30 p.m. According to the complaint, the medical examiner’s office determined hyperthermia killed the boy and the death was accidental.

Investigators filed charges Wednesday. Nguyen turned himself in to police about 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

In addition to involuntary manslaughter, Nguyen is charged with child endangerment and reckless endangerment. A judge on Thursday morning ordered he be held in the Allegheny County Jail without bail.

Court records did not list an attorney. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19.