Horsham Mom Accused Of Strangling Son Gets Court Date

Updated: 12:45 p.m.

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The mother charged with murder in the strangulation death of her 11-year-old son has a new court date.

Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead was extradited to Montgomery County from the Jersey Shore Friday to face first-degree murder charges in the death of her son.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 12:30 p.m., May 10, before Magisterial District Judge Harry Nesbitt III in Horsham Township. An April 27 date was initially scheduled but that was continued, according to court records.

Dirienzo-Whitehead is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after being transported there Friday afternoon by detectives from the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and Horsham Township from Cape May Prison, authorities said.

There is no bail available for first-degree murder charges.

She is charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and possessing an instrument of crime, authorities said.

Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead said that she strangled her son with her husband's belt at the family's Privet Road home after he had been "upset and crying off and on all day" last Monday over the family's financial difficulties, according to an affidavit.

At a press conference last Wednesday, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele got choked up speaking about the crime, saying he had a 12-year-old child.

"These are really difficult crimes," Steele said. "They (police) did the work that needed to be done. To think that someone is capable of taking a belt to a child's neck and strangling him is sick. What are you going to say to your kids? This is a tragedy. I'm trying real hard not to get into this lady's head but it doesn't make sense."

Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead's attorney, Eugene Tinari, could not be reached for comment Monday.

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A joint investigation into the boy’s death by Montgomery County Detectives and Horsham Police found that DiRienzo-Whitehead had killed her son after he went to sleep at around 9:30 p.m., then drove the family’s SUV to Cape May, N.J. There, she proceeded to drive the vehicle into the ocean just off Beach Avenue, where it was found by Cape May Police.

After the vehicle was no longer operable, the defendant walked to Wildwood Crest, where she was taken into custody by the Wildwood Crest Police and interviewed by detectives from Montgomery County Detective Bureau and Horsham Police.