NORRISTOWN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania woman who is being accused of strangling her 11-year-old son to death and then driving her car into the ocean at the Cove Beach in Cape May will not face the death penalty.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office confirmed that it would not seek the death penalty for Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, who allegedly strangled her son Matthew, 11, while he was sleeping in her bed.
DiRienzo-Whitehead then drove her car to Cape May and attempted to drive into the ocean; however, her vehicle became stuck in the sand at the water’s edge, according to the affidavit of probable cause in the case. The car was discovered around the same time her son’s body was found in the family’s home by the boy’s father.
DiRienzo-Whitehead, 51, left her car in Cape May and walked to Wildwood Crest, the affidavit says. A previous check of the Cape May County clerk’s property records showed that a Daniel and Ruth Whitehead own a home on Seaview Avenue in Wildwood Crest. DiRienzo-Whitehead was arrested in Wildwood Crest by Wildwood Crest police along with Horsham Township and Montgomery County detectives.
She was charged with first- and third-degree murder in April, and in August a judge ordered a mental competency evaluation report. According to northpennnow.com, her attorney, Eugene Tinari, has filed a notice of intent to use the insanity defense.
Her trial is set to begin Feb. 12, with a hearing scheduled one month before the trial begins, The Press of Atlantic City has reported.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
