LA PLATA, Maryland — The death of a 3-year-old boy found dead on a Maryland park swing has been ruled a homicide.
According to WUSA, Ji’Aire Lee was found on a park swing on May 22. He died of dehydration and hypothermia, according to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials discovered the boy’s body after his mother, Romechia Simms, was observed pushing the boy on the swing for an “unusually long period of time.”
The Washington Post reports that Simms, who had previously experienced a mental breakdown, stayed at the park nearly 44 hours pushing the boy on the swing.
Romechia had been hospitalized on more than one occasion for erratic behavior before her son’s death.
The boy’s father, James Lee, petitioned for custody of the child just weeks before his death.
The county’s state’s attorney’s office will decide whether to file charges against Simms.
