[Azimuth]

She will most likely live out her days in a locked mental health facility, maybe Maryland's

I have been in my state's. It might be a tiny step up from "real prison", but before anyone says she'll be getting away with it:
No. Not at all. They are locked, they have guards. It's really not just sit-around time, everything you do has a point. At least here she will be getting the mental help she desperately needs.

edit to clarify: I was not being incarcerated for a crime, I was severely clinically depressed. They saved my life.

[Azimuth]

Originally Posted by diamondsmiles ↗

Thank you so much for the update, Top Gear!

I figured she killed him. The poor baby suffered.

Let's put her on a fucking swing in the cold after hosing her down and and strapping her down and see how she likes it!

Hopefully, the father can sue. He knew what she was going to do. So very sad! A father who wanted his son!

Cute little boy!

It's really too bad that he couldn't have communicated his fears to the judge, in their custody hearing. The judge kicked the door wide open, by asking if anyone was unfit. The dad slammed it shut, by ignoring that question and saying "no one is unfit ". If the dad wanted him so badly, seems like something would have been done then and there.

[DiamondSmiles]

And I hope her uterus falls out!

[Morbid75]

I usually want to kill these women but I am taking a more sensitive stance here because she was obviously mentally ill.

BUT what the fuck was her family doing about it. They knew she was crazy and so did the kid's dad. Did someone not wonder where they were for 44 hours? Hell, I see someone pushing a kid for an hour or two I might get suspicious as three-year olds have a short attention span. She was probably receiving the crazy check and not taking her meds. Well may that was not so sensitive but that poor baby did not have to die like that.

[Azimuth]

Originally Posted by morbid75 ↗

I usually want to kill these women but I am taking a more sensitive stance here because she was obviously mentally ill.

BUT what the fuck was her family doing about it. They knew she was crazy and so did the kid's dad. Did someone not wonder where they were for 44 hours? Hell, I see someone pushing a kid for an hour or two I might get suspicious as three-year olds have a short attention span. She was probably receiving the crazy check and not taking her meds. Well may that was not so sensitive but that poor baby did not have to die like that.

What is "the crazy check"?

Also, have you seen her diagnoses?

[Azimuth]

Those are sincere questions, by the way. I really don't know what a crazy check is.

[dwizzy22]

From what I can gather she pushed him for 3 days and 3 nights and he passed away from hypothermia

[CrunchyCripple]

And dehydration - which means he hadn't drank anything in days. She lost the capacity to be able to care for another being.

[DiamondSmiles]

No surprises here for me! Hopefully, she will off herself in jail!

By Matthew Barakat, Associated Press

LA PLATA, Maryland — September 14, 2015

A Maryland woman who was found pushing her dead son in a playground swing earlier this year has been indicted and charged with manslaughter and child abuse, authorities announced Monday.

At an arraignment Monday in Charles County Circuit Court, prosecutors said Romechia *****, 24, of LaPlata, spent two entire days in a LaPlata playground pushing her 3 year old son, Ji'Aire Donnell Lee.

Authorities say Lee died of dehydration and low body temperature while he was in the swing. Medical examiners ruled the death a homicide.

At Monday's arraignment, ***** objected when prosecutors declared her a danger and a flight risk, according to Kristen Ayers, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney.

"I'm not a risk to anybody," ***** said, before her public defender advised her to be quiet. "I didn't even mean for this to happen."

Prosecutors said *****' mental state is in question and they wanted her to remain jailed.

Sheriff's deputies found the toddler dead in the swing the morning of May 22 after receiving a call that a woman had been pushing a child in the swing at odd hours. State's Attorney Anthony Covington said Monday that police found Lee's jacket in the trash, and his shoes off his feet, filled with rain water.

A judge ordered ***** held, with bond set at $150,000, and scheduled a January trial date. She faces up to 45 years in prison — 30 years on first-degree child abuse, 10 years on the manslaughter charge and 5 years on a charge of child neglect.

Family members have said ***** was suffering from mental illness. She was hospitalized after her son's death, and had been hospitalized for a brief period in the months beforehand.

The public defender representing ***** did not return a call Monday seeking comment.

*****' mother, Vontasha *****, said she was, "totally flabbergasted," by the decision to bring criminal charges.

"No one in their right mind is going to sit out there for two days in the elements," she said, noting that her daughter was exposed to the weather and had no food or water, either, during those two days.

She said her daughter had just begun taking medication for her mental health problems a couple of months before, and wondered whether there were problems getting the right medication or dosage. She said her daughter had been complaining of headaches before Ji'Aire's death.

"Somehow, somewhere within that episode, time stopped for her," Vontasha ***** said.

Vontasha ***** said she hopes to retain a private attorney to represent her daughter, but, worries that she can't afford it.

Christopher Slobogin, a professor at Vanderbilt University's Law School and an expert in mental health law, said prosecutors have leeway in deciding whether to bring criminal charges in cases like this. How much *****' apparent mental illness affects the case depends on how strong the defense's argument is that she is ill, Slobogin said.

"If she's pushing her dead child in a swing, that's pretty good evidence of serious impairment," Slobogin said.

After Monday's arraignment, Covington said he didn't know whether he might revisit the criminal charges if subsequent mental health evaluations raise questions about *****' sanity or competency. While he acknowledged that mental health issues are part of the case, he said it would be up to the defense to bring forward a mental illness defense.

He said he could not discuss specific facts of the case, including whether ***** had offered an explanation of her behavior to the authorities.

Earlier this year, the boy's father petitioned a District of Columbia court for custody of his son, saying ***** was behaving erratically and jumped out of a moving taxicab with Ji'Aire.

In court papers, ***** acknowledged she had had a mental breakdown, but, insisted she was doing better.

"This breakdown that I had was the first that I have ever had in my life and I truly believe it was from an extreme amount of stress weighing heavy on me. I am now in a much better productive space," she wrote in a letter to the judge.

In May, just days before Ji'Aire's death, a judge ordered the parents to share custody, and court records indicate both ***** and the boy's father agreed to the arrangement.

———

Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko and Ben Nuckols in Washington contributed to this report.

Photos

This handout photo provided by the Charles County, Maryland Sheriff's Office shows Romechia *****.

A stuffed animal and flowers sit near a swing in Wills Memorial Park in LaPlata, Maryland, May 26, 2015.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by morbid75 ↗

I usually want to kill these women but I am taking a more sensitive stance here because she was obviously mentally ill.

BUT what the fuck was her family doing about it. They knew she was crazy and so did the kid's dad. Did someone not wonder where they were for 44 hours? Hell, I see someone pushing a kid for an hour or two I might get suspicious as three-year olds have a short attention span. She was probably receiving the crazy check and not taking her meds. Well may that was not so sensitive but that poor baby did not have to die like that.

The baby's father tried and was granted shared custody, but, I don't know if the killer cooperate with that Order.