Horsham Mom Accused Of Strangling Son Waives Hearing

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —Before more than a dozen family members, the Horsham mother accused in the strangulation death of her 11-year-old son appeared in court Thursday morning for her preliminary hearing.

Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead, with her attorney Eugene Tinari, agreed to waive her hearing before District Judge Charles Baum. She will now appear in Norristown for her arraignment at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 11.

Dirienzo-Whitehead faces first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and possessing an instrument of crime in the death of her son in April.

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" over the family's financial difficulties, according to an affidavit.

Authorities said after DiRienzo-Whitehead left her home, she 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. She then walked to Wildwood Crest, where she was taken into custody by Wildwood Crest Police.

Appearing in a maroon jumpsuit with Montgomery County Prison initials on her back, Dirienzo-Whitehead sat at the table and immediately began weeping as family members looked on.

She bunched up her left hand into a fist at times and placed it against her cheek and also covered her face while she cried as Tinari rubbed her shoulder.

The court proceeding lasted a matter of minutes with Baum instructing her about the waiver in which DiRienzo-Whitehead answered softly "yes" to two questions from the judge.

Tinari said DiRienzo-Whitehead's husband, who found the couple's son dead, was not in the courtroom.

He said it was rare for the court to allow so many family members and said he was grateful that they did so.

Tinari told Patch previously that his client was "delusional and has mental health issues," when she committed the act.

Standing outside the courtroom on Babylon Road, Tinari said that he will fight the charges.

"Obviously, we are going to fight it extremely aggressively," he said as family members left the courtroom. "One reason is that it was only a psychotic episode. Her family members are here supporting her."

Tinari said his client had never been on medication previously and that after the incident happened "she could barely communicate with me."

"It's a very complex defense," he said. "Is she legally insane? Was she suffering from a delusional belief? There is no other explanation. She was a loving and doting mother."

Gwendolyn Kull, Montgomery County assistant district attorney, said that the arraignment date could change once a judge is assigned.

"This is a first-degree murder case," Kull said. "She had a specific intent to kill her son. She strangled him with a belt. As a mother, that is unfathomable and incomprehensible. In terms of evidence at the trial, mental health doesn't play in. She was not insane."

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(Photo by Dino Ciliberti/Patch)