A Pennsylvania mother has been accused of strangling her 11-year-old son with a belt while he slept so he wouldn’t have to grow up with the family’s financial struggles, authorities say.
Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, 50, was charged with the murder ofMatthew Whiteheadafter the child’s body was found in their Horsham home on Tuesday, according to a statement from theMontgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
The boy’s father called 911 about 7 a.m. local time after he noticed the door to the primary bedroom was locked and the family’s Toyota Highlander was missing. Policefound Matthew’s body in the bedof the primary bedroom, where he’d fallen asleep next to his mother, authorities said.
The child had ligature marks on the front and rear of his neck, his face was swollen and there were “obvious petechia” to his eyes, which the DA’s office said were all signs of strangulation.
Ruth DiRienzo Whitehead; Matthew Whitehead.County of Montgomery Courthouse; Facebook
Police found the missing SUV just off Beach Avenue in Cape May, where DiRienzo-Whitehead had allegedly driven it into the ocean. She was found walking at Wildwood Crest, about six miles north of the abandoned vehicle.
In a news conference,District Attorney Kevin Steelealleged of DiRienzo-Whitehead, “She did it with a belt and she strangled him to death in the bed.”
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Pennsylvania crime scene.NBC10 Philadelphia/YouTube
“I want to thank Cape May Police, Wildwood Crest Police and Cape May Prosecutor Geoffrey Sutherland’s Office for their assistance with apprehending this mother who killed her son and with other aspects of this investigation,” Steele said.
“Their quick action and help in this investigation will play an integral part ofholding the defendant accountablefor the terrible killing of this boy.”
DiRienzo-Whitehead has been charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime.
A statement from Germantown Academy, where Matthew was a sixth-grader, read, “Matthew was an extraordinary child with a smile as bright as the sun. We loved him, and we will forever mourn his loss,“The Philadelphia Inquirerreports.
source: people.com
