Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead, 51, was sentenced to life in jail for killing her 11-year-old son earlier than driving to a Jersey Shore seashore the place investigators say she drove her automobile into the ocean in April of final 12 months.
All through the course of the case Dirienzo-Whitehead has maintained silence. On Friday, nevertheless, she admitted that she took her youngster's future and requested for forgiveness.
Dirienzo-Whitehead instructed the courtroom that solely “a monster would do one thing like this.” She additionally instructed the courtroom that she is aware of the life her son ought to have had and that she was pleased with him.
She by no means stated why she took a belt and strangled her son.
Earlier than Dirienzo-Whitehead was sentenced, her brother additionally broke his silence and stated the household missed the indicators that she was struggling.
In hearings this week, Dirienzo-Whitehead's protection argued that she strangled her son, Matthew Whitehead, to dying with a belt on April 10 in a bed room of her Horsham Township residence as a result of she was struggling a psychotic break and felt that he was saving his son a painful life.
Dirienzo-Whitehead was discovered shortly after strolling in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, and brought into custody.
A protection professional testified that Dirienzo-Whitehead was affected by melancholy and psychological sickness on the time of the homicide.
And her lawyer instructed NBC10 that she felt like her world was collapsing on her, the monetary pressures and her son's consciousness of them having develop into an excessive amount of for the Horsham mom.
Nevertheless, prosecutors argued that the homicide was premeditated and revealed that she carried out quite a few Google searches on the right way to strangle somebody and had researched psychological sicknesses that lead moms to kill their very own youngsters.
Prosecutors argued that Dirienzo-Whitehead blamed her husband for the household's monetary issues and stated she was motivated to kill her son by a mixture of anger and revenge.
Whereas delivering the responsible verdict Thursday morning, a Montgomery County courtroom choose refused to think about psychological sickness as a protection.
On Friday, prosecutors efficiently argued that Dirienzo-Whitehead knew killing her son was unsuitable and that she was performing out of revenge and never psychological sickness.
The protection says it would enchantment for a shorter sentence.