Horsham Mother Charged With Murder In Death Of Son, 11

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The mother of an 11-year-old Horsham boy found dead Tuesday has been charged with first-degree murder, authorities said.

Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead was charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and possessing an instrument of crime and is awaiting arrest in the strangulation death of her son.

The boy was discovered around 7 a.m., Tuesday, when the boy’s father found the door to the master bedroom locked and DiRienzo-Whitehead and the family’s Toyota Highlander missing.

The father called 911 and Horsham Police responded to the family home in the 500 block of Privet Road. Police found the boy dead in the bed of the master bedroom, where he had gone to sleep with his mother.

Detectives observed that the boy had ligature marks on the front and rear of his neck, as well as swelling of his face and obvious petechia to his eyes, all signs of strangulation, according to information from police.

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.

A search of the SUV by law enforcement discovered a black men’s dress belt on the floor of the driver’s side of the vehicle.

An autopsy on the boy’s body was conducted on Wednesday by Dr. Valerie Sorokin, a forensic pathologist with the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

Sorokin determined that the cause of death was ligature strangulation and the manner of death was homicide.

DiRienzo-Whitehead is being held in Cape May County and will be extradited back to Montgomery County for arraignment on the charges.

“I want to thank Cape May Police, Wildwood Crest Police and Cape May Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland’s Office for their assistance with apprehending this mother who killed her son
and with other aspects of this investigation,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said. “Their quick action and help in this investigation will play an integral part in holding the defendant accountable for the terrible killing of this boy.”