Exactly three weeks after her disabled son was left to die in a running van parked inside a West Valley City garage, Wendy Rollins stood before a judge and argued the man accused of causing Colton Moser’s death should remain in jail.
Her son “had no ability to advocate for himself, no ability to escape, no ability to understand what was happening,” she said during a detention hearing for her son’s former caregiver, Isaiah Vaughn Pulu.
Pulu is charged with murder in the deaths of Moser and two other disabled men, all of whom were left in the vehicle for hours on Feb. 6.
Abandoning Moser there, Rollins said, was akin to “tying his hands and feet” and “placing duct tape over his mouth,” she said, speaking on behalf of the mothers of the other two men, too.
Rollins said her son’s “severe” autism left him entirely dependent on others for his safety, which she said Pulu knew.
Now, she said, her son has been “reduced to a small plastic box.”
“No parent should ever have to watch their child be diminished to a handful of ashes because of another person’s lack of care, responsibility and respect for human life,” she continued.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Wendy Rollins, mother of Colton Moser, speaks as Isaiah Pulu, the man charged with murder in the deaths of three disabled men who he allegedly left in a running van, appears for a detention hearing in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.
Pulu, 25, was working for Safe and Sound Services, a company that transports and supports people with disabilities.
He is accused of driving 25-year-old Moser, 22-year-old Mosa’ati Moa and 39-year-old Tim Jones to his home, then leaving them in the running car for more than four hours, prosecutors allege, resulting in their deaths, which authorities say were likely caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Jean Brummer, Pulu’s defense attorney, called the deaths a “tragedy” and told the judge he understands the families’ desire for justice.
Arguing for his pretrial release, Brummer said Pulu cooperated with investigators, waived his Miranda rights and “appeared very concerned” when officers arrived.
After realizing the men had died, Brummer, reading from a police report, said Pulu became visibly distraught.
“Tears swelled up in his eyes, and he appeared to be in disbelief,” Brummer told a judge. “He moved towards the curb and sat down.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Isaiah Pulu, the man charged with murder in the deaths of three disabled men who he allegedly left in a running van, appears for a detention hearing in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.
But prosecutor Bradford Cooley pointed out that Pulu had been written up just a month earlier for leaving clients alone for a half hour.
That shows a pattern of behavior that reflects a “blatant disregard for human life,” Cooley asserted, arguing that releasing him would endanger the community.
Judge Todd Shaughnessy agreed, denying Pulu’s request for pretrial release.
The next hearing in the case is set for April 24 at the 3rd District courthouse in Salt Lake City.