Horsham Mom Strangled Son Over Financial Woes, Records Show

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The mother charged in the death of her 11-year-old son strangled him with her husband's belt after he was crying over the family's financial difficulties, court documents show.

Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead told detectives Tuesday that she laid down with her son in the master bedroom at 9:30 p.m. Monday and said that he had been "upset and crying off and on all day" over the family's financial difficulties, according to an affidavit.

Dirienzo-Whitehead explained to authorities that she did not want her son to grow up with these struggles so she strangled him with her husband's belt as the boy slept in the home on the 500 block of Privet Road, the affidavit states.

She was charged Wednesday 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 Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said.

Horsham Detective Michael Costello was one of the first to arrive on the scene at 505 Privet Road Tuesday. Costello went to the master bedroom area of the home where he observed the body of the boy and said he had that he had blood and fluids draining from his mouth and nose, the affidavit states.

Costello interviewed the father, Daniel Whitehead, who called police at 7:06 a.m. Tuesday to report that his son was unresponsive.

Whitehead told detectives that his wife had spent the night in the master bedroom with their son, while he slept in another room. Whitehead said that was not unusual, according to the affidavit.

Whitehead stated that when he woke up in the morning, he noticed that the door to the master bedroom was locked and his wife's black Toyota Highlander was missing from the garage.

Whitehead forced entry into the master bedroom and discovered his deceased son. Whitehead described his wife's vehicle as a black, 2019 Toyota Highlander bearing Pennsylvania
registration JZM2744.

While still on scene at the residence, Horsham Township Police received a call from the Cape May (NJ) Prosecutor's Office.

Cape May Police had located Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead's black Toyota Highlander partially
submerged in the ocean just off Beach Avenue in Cape May.

Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead was not located with the vehicle but was taken into custody in Wildwood Crest shortly thereafter, the document states.

On Tuesday, Montgomery County Detective Heather Long and Horsham Township Detective Mike Peter interviewed Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead at the Wildwood Crest Police Department.

After killing her son, Dirienzo-Whitehead said she took the family vehicle to Cape May County where she drove her vehicle onto The Cove Beach and into the ocean, the affidavit said.

Once Whitehead's vehicle was no longer operable, she walked to Wildwood Crest where she was located by Wildwood Crest Police Department.

Detectives searched the black, 2019 Toyota Highlander bearing Pennsylvania registration JZM2744 that Dirienzo-Whitehead had driven to New Jersey. On the front driver's side floor of the vehicle, they recovered a black men's dress belt, the affidavit said.

Montgomery County Detective David Schanes processed the scene and observed ligature marks on the front and rear of Matthew's neck as well as swelling to his face and obvious petechia to his eyes, the document states.

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 a homicide.

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