Peters man accused of leaving infant in hot car, killing him, released from jail

A Peters man who said he accidentally left his 3-month-old son inside a hot vehicle for six hours, killing the infant, will be released from Allegheny County Jail.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski on Friday afternoon granted release on home electronic monitoring for Khang Nguyen.

Nguyen, 33, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of children stemming from the death of his son, Kayden, on June 16.

Nguyen had his son in his car seat in his 2022 Toyota Sienna around 11 a.m. that day and left him in the running vehicle with air conditioning on when he ran into his family’s nail salon on Sienna Drive in Upper St. Clair.

Nguyen told police he only expected to be inside for a short time — to pay an employee and make a few phone calls.

However, according to the criminal complaint, Nguyen ended up staying at the salon until it was time to pick up his other son at the Goddard School after 4 p.m.

Police said that Nguyen told them he didn’t notice Kayden in his car seat, placed in the van’s middle row behind the passenger seat, when he buckled his 2-year-old in or when he got the 2-year-old out at home a short time later.

Security footage from the family’s home on Fort Couch Road showed Nguyen arriving home just after 4:45 p.m. when he took his older son out of the car and went inside. Less than a minute later, the footage shows Nguyen running back outside, getting Kayden’s car seat out and going inside.

Interior cameras then showed Nguyen pacing around the house with Kayden in his arms.

Audio and video from inside the house showed that Nguyen ignored pleas from his parents to start CPR and get help, police said.

Kayden was pronounced dead shortly before 5:30 p.m.

The medical examiner’s office said he died from hyperthermia — weather data showed the high temperature that day was 91 degrees — and the manner of death was ruled as accidental.

Nguyen was charged on Wednesday and is being held in jail without bond because he is accused of a homicide.

Defense attorney William Difenderfer told Borkowski that the death was an accident, and that county Children, Youth and Family Services has already closed its case on the matter.

Difenderfer told the court that his client owns the home where he lives with his parents, wife and older son, and also owns the nail salon where he works.

He asked that Nguyen be released on his own recognizance.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer DiGiovanni said she did not object to Nguyen’s release, but asked that he be required to surrender his passport. DiGiovanni said Nguyen has previously lived in Canada and Vietnam, and when he was interviewed by detectives, he told them he thought he should return to Vietnam to get a fresh start.

Borkowski ordered Nguyen to surrender his passport and undergo a mental health evaluation. He also may not have any unsupervised contact with his older son. Nguyen will be permitted to leave his house to go to work and court proceedings.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19.