Town Stunned After Apparent Arson-Home Invasion

CHESHIRE, Conn. (AP) _ Hayley Petit wasn't about to let a collapsed lung keep her from her high school graduation. <br/><br/>The high school senior and three-sport athlete left her sick bed last month

Tuesday, July 24th 2007, 6:52 am

By: News On 6

CHESHIRE, Conn. (AP) _ Hayley Petit wasn't about to let a collapsed lung keep her from her high school graduation.

The high school senior and three-sport athlete left her sick bed last month long enough to attend commencement before returning to the hospital.

``She was not going to let her class down,'' said M. Burch Tracy Ford, head of school at Miss Porter's School in Farmington.

Ford and so many others struggled Monday after learning that 17-year-old Hayley, her mother Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and younger sister Michaela were killed in a violent home invasion after the family had been held hostage for hours.

Her father, prominent endocrinologist Dr. William Petit Jr., 50, was the sole survivor.

Two suspects are in custody. They were caught fleeing from the burning home, which they apparently set on fire in an attempt to cover their tracks, authorities said.

``Right now it's so awful and so hard even to take in the horror of it,'' Ford said.

Bank employees contacted police when one of the suspects accompanied a female hostage, who was not identified, to make a withdrawal around 9:30 a.m. Monday. Police drove to the Petit home in this quiet suburb.

Dr. Petit, though severely injured, managed to tell police what happened. His wife and two daughters were found dead in the home, said a law enforcement official with firsthand knowledge of the investigation.

The two suspects have not been identified and are due in court Tuesday. Charges against the suspects have not been released.

Cheshire, an upper-middle class neighborhood of 29,000 and colonial-style homes, is just east of Waterbury and about 15 miles north of New Haven.

``In Cheshire we're not used to this type of event,'' town Police Chief Michael Cruess said. ``It's a very unfortunate, tragic event that's probably going to reach right down to the core of the community.''

Hayley Petit received an early acceptance to Dartmouth, her father's alma mater. A tireless fundraiser for multiple sclerosis, captain of the basketball and crew teams and role model for younger students, Hayley Petit came from a family where helping people just came naturally.

``She was such a good, good person,'' Ford said. ``The younger kids just worshipped the ground she walked on.''

Petit, the president of the Hartford County Medical Association, is a noted specialist in diabetes and endocrinology and the medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at The Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain.

``It is a shocking day for everyone. It's just beyond anyone's understanding,'' said Larry Tanner, president and chief executive officer of the hospital.

Petit's wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, a nurse, was co-director of the health center at Cheshire Academy, a private boarding school.

``It's just a very difficult day here,'' said Philip Moore, director of communications for the school. ``She was very good at educating kids about good health, not just taking care of them when they are not feeling well.''

The Rev. Ronald A. Rising, a neighbor, said he had known the family for more than 10 years.

``They're just a lovely family,'' he said. ``It's just awful to think it would happen to a family like that in this community. You don't think about those things happening.''