In May, police discovered a woman pushing a dead toddler in a Maryland city park swing. Now, the 3-year-old’s death has been ruled a homicide.
On May 22, police confronted 24-year-old Romechia Simms who had reportedly been at a park in LaPlata, Maryland for hours. The woman was placidly pushing her 3-year-old in a swing. When police arrived, they found that the child was dead.
During the month-long investigation, police discovered that Simms had been sitting in the park since sometime the day before and through the night into that Friday morning. The woman was taken in for mental health screening as police reported that “it didn’t appear that she was fully aware of what was going on.”
Police also reported that Simms gave them several different addresses in and around LaPlata, a town 30 miles southeast of Washington D.C. on the Maryland side.
In a second autopsy of the child performed on June 24 by the Baltimore Medical Examiner, the child’s death was ruled a homicide, the Charles County Sheriff’s office reported on Monday.
The ME ruled that the child, Ji’Aire Lee, had died from hypothermia and dehydration.
During their investigation police discovered that the child’s father, James “Donnell” Lee, was seeking full custody of the boy, claiming that his ex was exhibiting erratic behavior.
Thus far no charges have been filed, but the investigation is on going.
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