Why....

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Details expected in probe of 5-year-old's death while left home alone

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/6/06

GANNETT NEW JERSEY

SAYREVILLE — Balloons, stuffed animals and containers of bright, red roses, dotted the front yard of 14 Deerfield Road Sunday.

The small memorial stands in tribute to Erik Sturgis, the 5-year-old boy who died Saturday after his father left him alone and the house caught fire.

Meanwhile, a medical examiner has concluded the boy died of smoke inhalation, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said Sunday.

The investigation into the cause of the late-morning blaze and why Erik was left alone continues, Kaplan said, but details are expected today.

Charges have not been filed against the father, Kevin Sturgis.

Firefighters found Erik at 11:47 a.m. Saturday in an upstairs room in the house he shared with his father. Erik was taken out on a stretcher and to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m.

The boy was left alone around 8 a.m. when his father left for work at Wakefern Warehouse in South Brunswick. Emergency workers were alerted to the fire when a neighbor dialed 911 at 11:19 a.m.

Some neighbors said they noticed smoke Saturday but didn't realize Erik was inside because the father's truck was not in the driveway.

"I only saw him on the stretcher," said one Deerfield Road resident, who declined to provide his name. "It's very sad."

Things were not easy for Erik.

His mother, Christina Dunigan Sturgis, was the victim of a murder-suicide in 2001 in Warren County, authorities said. Erik's father and mother had split up.

State Division of Youth and Family Services spokesman Andy Williams said Erik was being cared for properly during the agency's last contact with the family.

"Last spring, we had a call on something completely unrelated to (Erik)," Williams said. "But while investigating that complaint, we found (Erik) was being cared for by someone inappropriate."

Williams would not discuss the baby sitter or how the initial complaint led DYFS workers to Erik's situation. After other arrangements were made for the care of Erik, Williams said, a DYFS worker closed the case in July 2005.