DAVENPORT, Fla. (TCD) — A 36-year-old woman was taken into custody this week after her 4-year-old son died from severe internal injuries caused by suspected abuse.
On May 8, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced homicide detectives arrested Patricia Saintizaire on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and tampering with a witness in connection with her adopted son’s death.
According to the sheriff’s office, on May 1, the boy came home from school and was “happy and behaving normally.” A few hours later, the boy’s 16-year-old brother noticed the boy was struggling to move and appeared lethargic. Saintizaire allegedly claimed the boy was “faking it,” but he later went unconscious. The teen performed CPR on the victim and urged Saintizaire to take him to the hospital.
She took him to Heart of Florida Hospital in Davenport, but he was flown to Orlando Health, where he died from abdominal bleeding.
Sheriff Grady Judd said the medical examiner conducted an autopsy and found the child had a “significant tear” in his spleen that “couldn’t have been caused by anything other than an immediate, hard strike to the abdomen.”
He had other internal injuries and bruises from previous beatings. His cause of death was listed as assault/blunt force trauma and manner of death was homicide.
Judd said investigators obtained a video from Saintizaire’s house that allegedly showed her tying the boy’s hands behind his back and throwing him in the pool.
The victim and his teen brother were born in Haiti and were purportedly abused when they were younger. Judd said Saintizaire’s sister adopted the boy in Haiti, and Saintizaire ended up bringing him to the United States and adopting him as her son.
Saintizaire allegedly told police she never physically disciplined her son, but her husband disagreed. The teen son said Saintiziare threatened him with a gun if he told detectives about what happened to the boy.
Saintizaire is being held in the Polk County Jail without bond. The 16-year-old is in protective custody.
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