Florida mother killed young son while trying to ‘exorcise demons’

A little boy in the US was found dead in his home on Friday, two weeks after he was last seen in school on May 14.

The six-year-old’s mother, who has been criminally charged in the death, believed she was being told to “exorcise demons out of the child’s body”, local authorities said.

Ra’myl Pierre’s body was found in his bed at the family’s Fort Pierce home in Florida shortly after 10am on Friday, after school resource deputies requested a welfare check, Sheriff Richard R. Del Toro Jr. said.

His mother, Rhonda Paulynice, 31, has been charged with second-degree murder, failure to report a death, and with altering a body, Toro said.

“What we did learn in speaking with the mother is she believes she was being told by God to basically exorcise demons out of the child’s body,” he said at a news conference.

“And when the child had stopped moving and basically passed away, at that point she felt that the child had been released from those demons.”

When the sheriff’s deputy arrived at the home, Paulynice met the deputy in the driveway and escorted the officer into the home, where the dead boy was found in a bed in his bedroom, Toro said.

The cause and manner of death could not be immediately determined and an autopsy will be performed, Toro said.

The sheriff’s office has responded to the home before, but nothing involving the mother and child, Toro said.

They last responded to a call about a medical issue for the mother on May 17, the day before investigators believe the killing took place, he said.

There had been some domestic issues at the home in the past involving the mother and her sister, who no longer lives there, but nothing involving the child, Toro said.

The mother was interviewed by sheriff’s detectives on Friday, Toro said.

“During the course of the interviews, our detectives learned that the mother last spoke to the child on May 18th,” he said.

“That’s when we believe the homicide occurred, and that she was responsible for the child’s death.”

The second-degree murder case did not appear in online court records on Friday evening, and it was not immediately clear if Paulynice had an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Toro told reporters at a news conference that he has not spoken to the Paulynice, but he was told that she showed a range of emotions at the scene when speaking with investigators.

“What we do know is that she had a lot of highs and lows during the investigation — from laughing at different times at the scene to crying,” he said.

Investigators believe that the child has been dead in his room since May 18, Toro said, but he said the autopsy should help provide more insight.

No one else lived at the home besides Paulynice and the boy, he said.