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Trial begins for mom accused of strangling son, driving car into ocean
A trial is now underway for a Horsham mother charged with murdering her 11-year-old son.
HORSHAM, Pa. - A trial has begun in Montgomery County for a mother accused of strangling her son to death last year as a search led police to a beached car in Cape May.
The 11-year-old boy was found dead by his father on the 500 block of Privet Road in Horsham Township in April 2023.
The boy's mother, 50-year-old Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, told police she killed her son as he slept in her bed.
DA: Boy, 11, found dead in parents' bed as police discover mom's car submerged on Cape May beach
A dad made a tragic discovery when he came to find his 11-year-old son dead in his bed Tuesday morning, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
DiRienzo-Whitehead then fled to the Jersey Shore, where her car was discovered on a Cape May beach with a belt on the floor.
She was later taken into custody in Wildwood Crest, where she walked to her family's summer home.
Prosecutors say DiRienzo-Whitehead told police she didn't want her son to suffer because of the family's financial issues, so she strangled him with her husband's belt.
The boy's death was determined to be ligature strangulation by homicide, according to an autopsy.
Pennsylvania mom strangled son to death because of financial problems, documents say
A Montgomery County family has been left in shambles after officials say an 11-year-old boy was killed by his own mother, who strangled him with her husband's belt.
Her attorney claims she "snapped under the weight of mental illness."
"There is no history of child abuse, no neglect, nothing other than all accounts, looking clearly like she snapped to use the vernacular," her attorney told FOX 29 back in April.
She is currently on trial, where a judge could decide her fate as early as Tuesday.