Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead confessed to police, citing financial struggles as the motive for the murder of her 11-year-old son, Matthew Whitehead. She expressed a desire to spare him from future challenges and admitted to strangling him with a belt while he slept, as reported by various outlets citing authorities.
Matthew’s father raised the alarm when he found the primary bedroom locked, and the family’s Toyota Highlander missing. Police discovered Matthew’s lifeless body in the bedroom, where he had fallen asleep with his mother. The boy exhibited ligature marks on his neck, a swollen face, and petechiae in his eyes, according to authorities.
Despite an insanity defense presented by her attorneys, a judge declared DiRienzo-Whitehead guilty of first-degree murder, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC Philadelphia, and 6 ABC. Subsequently, on Friday, she was sentenced to life imprisonment, according to 6 ABC.
After her arrest, DiRienzo-Whitehead abandoned the missing SUV in Cape May, N.J., driving it into the ocean. She was located walking about six miles north of the vehicle. Authorities discovered a belt on the SUV’s driver’s side floor.