Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, left, and Matthew Whitehead.Photo: County of Montgomery Courthouse; Facebook
A Pennsylvania mother was convicted of murder aftershe strangled her son to deathso he wouldn’t have to grow up with financial struggles.
Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead was charged with the murder of 11-year-old Matthew Whitehead after his body was found in their Horsham home in April 2023, according to a statement from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
The Philadelphia Inquirer,NBC Philadelphiaand6 ABCreported Thursday that a judge found DiRienzo-Whitehead guilty of first-degree murder, rejecting an insanity defense that her attorneys had argued for.
On Friday, Dirienzo-Whitehead was sentenced to life in prison,6 ABCreported.
Matthew’s father called 911 after he noticed the door to the primary bedroom was locked and the family’s Toyota Highlander was missing. Police found Matthew’s body in the bedroom, where he’d fallen asleep with his mother, the district attorney’s office said.
The boy had ligature marks on the front and rear of his neck, his face was swollen and with petechiae to his eyes, authorities said.
DiRienzo-Whitehead’s attorney Eugene Tinari expressed disappointment after the verdict, theInquirerreported.
“I believe it was strictly as a result of her being in psychosis and mental illness based on the reasons I said. The love of her child, her character,” Tinari said, according to the outlet.
Before his death, Matthew was a sixth-grader at Germantown Academy.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
