MD - Ji'Aire Lee, 3, found dead in swing pushed by mom, La Plata, 22 May 2015

[gia2]

Hmmm bipolar. Great this is going start a circus of people with ANY mental illness not being able to care for kids. And yes depression and anxiety are mental illnesses. I'm going to guess she went off her meds.


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Some people are very quick to jump to those conclusions sadly, but it is evident that most people with bipolar are adequate to excellent parents. Treating bipolar is extremely complex and even with treatment she may have been having extremely severe episodes. The meds don't help everyone and for many they make the issues worse. Very trial and error and trying different treatments can cause prompt severe episodes.

Far more needs to be done to support people with mental health problems, especially when they have children

 

[ceecee30]

Some people are very quick to jump to those conclusions sadly, but it is evident that most people with bipolar are adequate to excellent parents. Treating bipolar is extremely complex and even with treatment she may have been having extremely severe episodes. The meds don't help everyone and for many they make the issues worse. Very trial and error and trying different treatments can cause prompt severe episodes.

Far more needs to be done to support people with mental health problems, especially when they have children

Could not agree more...

I suffer from borderline personality disorder (which also seems to be used as the go to excuse for killing your kids on here)

I have my moments where yes my disorder does affect me... But I step away and focus on some DBT I have learnt..

However as a sufferer I believe there should be more help available to us with major disorders... Make it easier for us to access childcare, medication and regualar therapy...

Although I'm really distressed that the father had appealed about her mental state and was dismissed, I feel that if this had of been listened too... This young man may still be alive.. I believe mum has done it, at the hands of mental incapacity

All JMO...

 

[michmi]

So sad, dad did his best to bring his concerns before the court and was shut down. I was hoping the autopsy would have revealed a cause of death and that's not to be. I wonder is it possible the child was alive when she began pushing him in the swing and through exposure died? What was the weather that day?

 

[Sherwood Park]

Some people are very quick to jump to those conclusions sadly, but it is evident that most people with bipolar are adequate to excellent parents. Treating bipolar is extremely complex and even with treatment she may have been having extremely severe episodes. The meds don't help everyone and for many they make the issues worse. Very trial and error and trying different treatments can cause prompt severe episodes.

Far more needs to be done to support people with mental health problems, especially when they have children

In this case it appears that the entire family was let down and not supported. Helping Romechia Simms with her mental illness would have benefited everyone involved. I believe Lee (the child's father) when he says that the Judge practically dismissed his concerns. Part of the custody agreement should have required that Simms get consistent and adequate help to obtain mental health for her safety and that of her child.
Even Simms mother was afraid of her daughter at one point.
People with bi-polar aren't bad people, but they can become extremely violent, even towards people that they love.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...189e50-056d-11e5-bc72-f3e16bf50bb6_story.html

 

[mom2six]

So sad, dad did his best to bring his concerns before the court and was shut down. I was hoping the autopsy would have revealed a cause of death and that's not to be. I wonder is it possible the child was alive when she began pushing him in the swing and through exposure died? What was the weather that day?

I had the same thought ( I believe somewhere up thread it was reported as 51 overnight), but I discarded it knowing three year old behavior quite well. There is no way any of my kids wouldn't have been whining, crying, standing up and climbing out when they were done swinging, which would have occurred at the very most by the 10min mark. This story is so sad. That little boy was either already deceased or tranquilized somehow. I hope LE figures this one out and brings appropriate charges. I can't imagine how devastated the father is feeling.

 

[lillybell]

I had the same thought ( I believe somewhere up thread it was reported as 51 overnight), but I discarded it knowing three year old behavior quite well. There is no way any of my kids wouldn't have been whining, crying, standing up and climbing out when they were done swinging, which would have occurred at the very most by the 10min mark. This story is so sad. That little boy was either already deceased or tranquilized somehow. I hope LE figures this one out and brings appropriate charges. I can't imagine how devastated the father is feeling.

There were reports from a witness that heard the little one crying at some point.

Eta link http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/29137135/mother-3-year-old-swing

 

[mom2six]

“He couldn't see his face because she had her stomach in front of him,” said Key, referring to her son who is a middle school student.

Key's child saw the mother and son at the park Thursday night.

“He said that he was crying, so he was alive, and she looked up and looked at him and he looked at her and he put her head down,” Key said.

Can someone interpret this passage? It is so poorly expressed/written I cannot visualize what is described. This is a third account of a child witness's statement. There are too many pronouns. Did the mom look up at the witness or her son? I usually am above my children when swinging so I would have a hard time looking up at them. But particularly the bolded part I am struggling with.

Anyway, I have trouble picturing any scenario in which I could have kept any of my three year olds, each with very different personalities, sitting in a swing. There would have been wrestling and struggling. They would stand up and either climb, jump, or fall out after a certain length of time. The swing pictured is just like our park swings. No belts. You'd have to have shoulder harnesses (which I've never seen on a public park swing) to really keep a child in against their will. Three year olds are hitting that independent stage that particularly don't want to do what mom says.

I guess we'll just wait for toxicology.

ETA: the quoted passage was from lillybell's link: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/29137135/mother-3-year-old-swing

 

[Hippononymous]

Mom2Six, I'm guessing the bolded part should have read "she put her head down." I was confused about that, too.

 

[silversurvivor]

Any one hear any more?

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[Montjoy]

FWIW, this sounded like a post-partum-psychosis right from the start. I totally understand why folks are angry at the mom. Fair enough, but I just feel sad.

 

[Nova]

I can't speak for others. I for one am just sorry and bewildered.

Most of the anger here seems focused on the court system's inability to take action quickly enough to save this child. People are angry at the slowness of the bureaucracy.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[blue22]

FWIW, this sounded like a post-partum-psychosis right from the start. I totally understand why folks are angry at the mom. Fair enough, but I just feel sad.

Does she have another baby? 3 years old is not longer qualifies as postpartum psychosis. Postpartum psychosis is temporary and sudden...and is not considered after one year post birth. With a 3 year old, she might have a mental illness that would qualify for insanity...but it wouldn't be this. And yes, it's very sad.

 

[MsFacetious]

Mother and father grieve for 3-year-old boy found dead on swing

She wiped away tears at the funeral for her 3-year-old son, who was found dead on a park swing in Southern Maryland after she'd been pushing him for hours, possibly overnight.

Ji'Aire Lee's small body, dressed in white, was laid out in a white casket at First Baptist Church of Highland Park on Friday (local time), surrounded by sprays of white roses.

His 24-year-old mother, Romechia Simms, who'd been hospitalised for four days after his death, was among those singing This Little Light of Mine. Sitting beside her: Ji'Aire's father, James "Donnell" Lee, 29, who sought custody of the preschooler in March because he was concerned about Simms's mental stability.

Later, as pallbearers carried the casket to the burial site at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton, the two grieving parents held hands.

-------------------------

Simms, who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder, had what her mother, Vontasha Simms, called "some kind of a psychotic episode" in the park. She was taken to a hospital by sheriff's deputies for treatment and discharged four days later.

Romechia, who had suffered a mental breakdown in February, doesn't remember what happened in the park that night, family members said.

Vontasha Simms, 47, said she believes Romechia would never have intentionally hurt her son. But he had a bad cough, and the temperature had fallen to about 10 degrees Celsius overnight, according to National Weather Service data.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americ...r-grieve-for-3yearold-boy-found-dead-on-swing

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...e4ff9a-0aef-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html

 

[blue22]

Mother and father grieve for 3-year-old boy found dead on swing

She wiped away tears at the funeral for her 3-year-old son, who was found dead on a park swing in Southern Maryland after she'd been pushing him for hours, possibly overnight.

Ji'Aire Lee's small body, dressed in white, was laid out in a white casket at First Baptist Church of Highland Park on Friday (local time), surrounded by sprays of white roses.

His 24-year-old mother, Romechia Simms, who'd been hospitalised for four days after his death, was among those singing This Little Light of Mine. Sitting beside her: Ji'Aire's father, James "Donnell" Lee, 29, who sought custody of the preschooler in March because he was concerned about Simms's mental stability.

Later, as pallbearers carried the casket to the burial site at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton, the two grieving parents held hands.

-------------------------

Simms, who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder, had what her mother, Vontasha Simms, called "some kind of a psychotic episode" in the park. She was taken to a hospital by sheriff's deputies for treatment and discharged four days later.

Romechia, who had suffered a mental breakdown in February, doesn't remember what happened in the park that night, family members said.

Vontasha Simms, 47, said she believes Romechia would never have intentionally hurt her son. But he had a bad cough, and the temperature had fallen to about 10 degrees Celsius overnight, according to National Weather Service data.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americ...r-grieve-for-3yearold-boy-found-dead-on-swing

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...e4ff9a-0aef-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html

Something that scares me here. Who the hell discharges a woman who had a mental break and was swinging her dead toddler for hours...after FOUR days? There is no way she is all the sudden real world mentally healthy after 4 days. Especially, not dealing with grieving and all that comes with an investigation. I hope that she is not a danger to herself

 

[rachaellouise]

I'm surprised she was even allowed out - I'd've thought after being discharged they would've taken her into custody?

Is she going to face any legal charges? Part of me hopes so, so that she can be put in a mental health facility where she can finally get the help she truly needs.


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[EmmaliLucia]

Guys, we still don't know if she had anything to do with her son's death. The kid could have easily died from an illness of some sort, maybe even mold exposure considering they were homeless.

The eyewitness testimony means nothing, to be honest. People lie or are mistaken all the time, people have been sent to prison for long periods of time based on false eye-witness testimony. The witness said he did not get a look at the kid's face, so the movement could have easily been from the movement of the swing set. And the crying could have been coming from her.

I mean, she could have poisoned her child for all we know, but I wouldn't recommend joining the angry mob too fast just based on what a 10-13 year old kid said he saw.

 

[blue22]

Guys, we still don't know if she had anything to do with her son's death. The kid could have easily died from an illness of some sort, maybe even mold exposure considering they were homeless.

The eyewitness testimony means nothing, to be honest. People lie or are mistaken all the time, people have been sent to prison for long periods of time based on false eye-witness testimony. The witness said he did not get a look at the kid's face, so the movement could have easily been from the movement of the swing set. And the crying could have been coming from her.

I mean, she could have poisoned her child for all we know, but I wouldn't recommend joining the angry mob too fast just based on what a 10-13 year old kid said he saw.

I didn't see anyone mobbing...? We were talking about her seemingly incredibly fragile mental health.

 

[EmmaliLucia]

Sorry, I got a bit caught up from reading the comments on MSN articles and lost my point on the earlier comment.

What I was getting around to saying is we don't know if there is anything to even charge her with. I guess tampering with a corpse could apply. But I'm just not sure and I'm not going to say anything until toxicology comes back.

 

[katydid23]

Sorry, I got a bit caught up from reading the comments on MSN articles and lost my point on the earlier comment.

What I was getting around to saying is we don't know if there is anything to even charge her with. I guess tampering with a corpse could apply. But I'm just not sure and I'm not going to say anything until toxicology comes back.

I am confused about the claims that she may have had him in the swing, outside , all night long. If so, then she could be and maybe should be charged with something. A three year old cannot sit in a swing for hours in cold, damp darkness. He was too fragile as any toddler would be. :rose:

 

[mikkismom]

Officials: Mother pushed toddler for two days, boy’s death ruled homicide

http://wtop.com/charles-county/2015...ddler-for-two-days-boys-death-ruled-homicide/

A boy who was found dead as his mother pushed him in a swing in a La Plata park died of dehydration and hypothermia and his death has been ruled a homicide, according to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.