Community Corner
Mom Left Child, 2, Home Alone as Clothes Burned, Prosecutor Says
The woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon outside Cranford's Rockn' Joe.
A woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon outside Rockn' Joe after leaving her 2-year-old child home alone inside a smoke-filled Roselle Park apartment, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Murlande Colin, 26, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Roselle Park and Cranford Police and an officer from the Union County Sheriff’s department arrested Colin in downtown Cranford at about 1:45 p.m.
"Oh Jesus, why are you doing this to me?" Colin was heard yelling as police placed in her handcuffs.
Colin was arrested a few hours after the superintendent of her building noticed smoke coming from the apartment and called authorities, Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park said.The superintendent and two neighbors entered the building before police arrived and discovered Colin’s 2-year-old daughter alone in a bedroom next to an iron that was smoldering on top of clothing, the prosecutor’s office said.
The toddler was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, according to Park.
Also discovered in the apartment were clothes burning on a lit stove, Park said. Authorities quickly extinguished the smoke condition and flames, Park said.
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The investigation remains ongoing, the prosecutor’s office said.
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