A Florida woman killed her 6-year-old son while she “was trying to exorcise demons,” according to St. Lucie Sheriff Richard Del Toro.
Rhonda Paulynice, 41, was arrested near Fort Pierce on a charge of second-degree murder, Del Toro said at a Friday news conference.
According to the sheriff, deputies found Ra’myl Pierre dead in his bed after his school reported that he had been absent for two weeks.
Investigators said Paulynice believed that God told her to perform an exorcism and her son would be “brought back to life.”
“When the child had stopped moving and and basically passed away at that point, she felt the child had been released of those demons and was waiting for him to basically come back,” Del Toro said.
An autopsy will be performed to determine how the boy died.
Paulynice is being held without bond.