Pennsylvania mother said she strangled 11-year-old son to death so boy wouldn't face family's financial problems: Authorities

A Pennsylvania mother said she strangled her 11-year-old son to death so that the boy wouldn't face the family's financial problems, according to authorities.

Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, 50, was arrested last week and charged with first-degree and third-degree murder, according to CBS News. DiRienzo-Whitehead was also charged with possessing an instrument of a crime, NBC News reported.

Authorities claim DiRienzo-Whitehead strangled her 11-year-old son to death at the family's home in Horsham Township, Pennsylvania. Police found 11-year-old Matthew Whitehead dead inside the master bedroom of the family's house on Tuesday.

Investigators believe the boy was strangled to death with his father's belt. Police suspect that the boy fell asleep near his mother, and then she strangled him to death.

Authorities say that the mother murdered her son because she didn't want the boy to face the family's financial issues.

The complaint reads, "DiRienzo-Whitehead explained that she did not want Matthew to grow up with these struggles so she strangled him with her husband’s belt."

An autopsy ruled that Matthew's cause of death was "ligature strangulation."

Law & Crime reported, "Authorities reportedly said they found ligature marks on the front and back of Matthew Whitehead’s neck. He showed facial swelling and petechiae on his eyes, Montgomery County DA Kevin Steele said."

The boy's father, Daniel Whitehead, told investigators that he woke up around 7 a.m. on Tuesday and noticed that the bedroom door was locked. He found his dead son in the locked room and also noted that the family's black Toyota Highlander was missing from the garage. He contacted the police, according to the district attorney for Montgomery County.

Around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, police found the missing SUV partially submerged in the Atlantic Ocean in Cape May, New Jersey – more than 120 miles from the family's Horsham home. Police say they found a black dress belt on the floor of the Highlander.

DiRienzo-Whitehead ditched the car in the ocean and then walked to the nearby town of Wildwood Crest, according to the prosecutor's office.

A police officer spotted DiRienzo-Whitehead walking down the street wearing "tattered" pajamas and appearing disheveled and confused, according to an affidavit.

She allegedly said, "I know what I did."

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Mom strangles 11-year-old son in his sleep, then drives SUV into ocean: DAwww.youtube.com