ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida mother accused of killing her 6-year-old son told deputies she was trying to “exorcise the demons” from him, according to new body camera footage obtained by Local 10 News on Tuesday.
Bodycam video shows a St. Lucie County deputy confronting Rhonda Polynice, 41, outside her home on May 30, asking why her son, Ra’Myl Pierre, hadn’t been to school in nearly two weeks.
According to an arrest affidavit, the child had been absent since May 14.
“He hasn’t been to school this whole month?” asked the responding deputy.
“It’s just that I haven’t sent him to school yet,” Polynice responded.
The deputy warned her that the boy’s absence was approaching truancy.
“The school is unaware of what’s going on with him,” the deputy said.
Polynice responded, “Oh, he’s going to go back to school.”
When asked if her son was inside, Polynice confirmed he was and agreed to let deputies see him. As she led them to the house, more deputies joined.
Inside, deputies noted in the report that Polynice was behaving strangely, refusing to remove her sunglasses and showing little reaction to law enforcement’s presence.
Investigators said they knocked on several doors before entering a bedroom where they found Ra’Myl lying motionless on a bed, covered by a blanket with only his face exposed. Deputies immediately determined he was dead and secured the scene.
According to the affidavit, Polynice was permitted to say goodbye to her son before his body was removed. Although she appeared distraught, deputies said it “did not appear sincere.”
During a news conference, St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro said Polynice told deputies she believed her son was possessed.
“She wanted to ‘exorcise the demons’ out of her son,” Del Toro added. “And 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.”
The report also described the inside of the home as “overly organized,” with food, clothes and cleaning supplies meticulously arranged “to a degree I (deputies) had never seen.”
Authorities said Polynice reportedly discussed behavioral changes in her son in the weeks leading up to his death, but investigators noted the traits she described were consistent with normal behavior for a growing 6-year-old child.
A medical examiner at the scene said it appeared the boy had been dead for several days — possibly close to the full two weeks he had been missing from school. Officials are still awaiting the final autopsy report to determine the exact cause of death.
Jail records show Polynice is facing a charge of second-degree murder.
