A preliminary hearing for Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead, charged in the strangulation death of her son in Horsham, has been rescheduled again.
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HATBORO, PA —A preliminary hearing for the township mother accused in the strangulation death of her 11-year-old son that was scheduled for last week has been rescheduled for three months from now, court records state.
After the hearing for Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead was continued twice, her court docket now has the hearing scheduled in Magisterial District Court in Horsham for late August.
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Dirienzo-Whitehead faces first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and possessing an instrument of crime in the death of her son last month.
Hearings scheduled for April 27 and May 10 were continued.
The new date is set for 11:15 a.m. Aug. 31 before Magisterial District Court Judge William Nesbitt III although Hatboro Judge Paul Leo might pick up the hearing.
Dirienzo-Whitehead is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after being extradited last month from Cape May Prison.
There is no bail available for first-degree murder charges.
Dirienzo-Whitehead said that she strangled her son with her husband’s belt at the family’s Privet Road home early last month after he had been “upset and crying off and on all day” over the family’s financial difficulties, according to an affidavit.
Late last month, DiRienzo-Whitehead underwent a mental health evaluation.
Tinari said that while his mental health evaluation of Dirienzo-Whitehead is finished, “the psychiatric evaluation to determine competency” has not been completed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
He said that the evaluation is expected this week.
Authorities said after DiRienzo-Whitehead left her home, she drove the family’s SUV to Cape May, N.J. There, she proceeded to drive the vehicle into the ocean just off Beach Avenue, where it was found by Cape May Police. She then walked to Wildwood Crest, where she was taken into custody by Wildwood Crest Police.
“She was delusional and has mental health issues,” Tinari said at that time. “We’re convinced this occurred from a severe mental illness because there’s no explanation.”
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