A Florida woman named Rhonda Joyce Paulynice has been arrested for doing the unthinkable. Authorities were called to the mother’s Fort Pierce home after her 6-year-old son had been absent from school for a month with no contact from the family. When police arrived, they had no idea what they were walking into. They eventually found a horrifying scene that led them to hear a story of an attempted exorcism that ended in the young boy’s death.
According to ABC News, 6-year-old Ra’myl Pierre was a student at Samuel Gaines Academy. He had been absent from class since May 14, and the school involved the authorities in hopes of getting a welfare check.
After speaking with Rhonda Joyce Paulynice, police asked to see her son to ensure that he was safe. She led them to the young boy’s bedroom, where he was found dead in his bed. Rhonda later told the police that her son died while she was performing an exorcism, and that she had hoped he would come back after the demons were released from his body.
“In speaking with the mother, she believed she was being told by God to basically exorcise demons out of the child’s body,” Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro said during a press conference. “When the child had stopped moving 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 at that time.”
Florida Woman Charged With Murder After 6-Year-Old Son Dies During Exorcism
An autopsy was conducted. However, the medical examiner is currently unable to release any information due to the criminal investigation. However, the Florida mother has been charged with second-degree murder, failure to report a death, and willfully touching or moving a body.
Previously, police had been called to the family’s residence for “domestic issues” earlier in the year. Just one day before the boy was believed to have died, the sheriff’s office also responded to a call for a “medical issue” involving the mother. However, Del Toro claims that neither of those calls involved the child.
Over on Reddit, many chimed in on the heartbreaking story.
“Religious psychosis is f—ing scary, man,” one person commented.
“Yet we STILL don’t offer free psychiatric and mental healthcare. Why do we allow this to happen over and over again?” stated another.
“What happened to that kid is evil,” a third person wrote.
“I can’t even begin to put this into words how sad this makes me,” a fourth person added.
Following the death, the St. Lucie County school district is said to be offering grief counseling to students and employees. Sadly, the community is now reeling from this tragedy, and the family of the little boy is forced to grieve.
