A Pennsylvania mother is accused of strangling her son over financial problems.
Real estate agent Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, 50, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 11-year-old son Matthew Whitehead. Ms DiRienzo-Whitehead’s husband alerted police in Horsham Twonship on Tuesday after he woke up to find Matthew dead and his wife missing, according to ABC News.
Ms DiRienzo-Whitehead was eventually found in the family beach home in New Jersey and her vehicle was found partially submerged on a Jersey Shore beach.
She reportedly told law enforcement that she strangled her son with her husband’s belt because she didn’t want him to grow up and also struggle financially, according to court documents. She claimed that her son had been “crying and upset all day” on Monday due to their money problems.
Ms DiRienzo-Whitehead was arraigned on Friday and waived her right to an extradition hearing.
Her defence has said she suffers from an unspecified mental health illness and she is currently on a suicide watch.
“A lot of difficulty, as she already stated, with finances. But it was a lot more than that. It’s not that simple. There’s a multitude of factors and layers that contributed to how she got to this point,” her attorney told ABC.
Investigators said that Matthew was sleeping when his mother allegedly killed him.
Ms DiRienzo-Whitehead was found the next day wandering in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. Officers who approached her noted in an incident report that she looked dishevelled, was wearing her tattered pyjamas and seemed confused, according to NBC.
She has since been extradited back to Pennsylvania.
