Fort Pierce police made a gruesome discovery last week that left veteran officers shaken to their core.
The decomposing body of a 6-year-old boy was found in his bedroom nearly two weeks after his death.
And Police charged a Florida woman with murder after her son died during a “demon exorcism.”
Florida mother arrested after school’s welfare check leads to grim discovery
St. Lucie County Sheriff’s deputies discovered the body of 6-year-old Ra’myl Pierre on May 30 after school officials grew concerned about his two-week absence from classes.
The boy’s mother, 41-year-old Rhonda Paulynice, was arrested the same day.
Sheriff Richard Del Toro revealed disturbing details about the case during a press briefing, explaining what Paulynice told investigators about her son’s death.
“What we did learn in speaking with the mother is she believes she was being told by God to basically exorcise demons out of the child’s body,” Del Toro said. “And when the child had stopped moving and basically passed away, at that point she felt that the child had been released from those demons, and was waiting for him to basically come back.”
Authorities believe Ra’myl died around May 18, though an official autopsy is still pending to determine the exact cause and time of death.
The child’s body was found in an advanced state of decomposition.
Mother showed erratic behavior during investigation
Law enforcement officials noted Paulynice displayed concerning behavior while they searched her home on Bedford Drive, alternating between laughter and tears during the investigation.
“She had a lot of highs and lows during the investigation, from laughing at different times at the scene to crying,” Del Toro said.
In the days leading up to the discovery, Paulynice had posted a series of religious-themed messages on Facebook that investigators described as increasingly erratic.
Evidence suggests Paulynice may have been preserving the boy’s body while waiting for him to “come back” after she believed the “demons” had been released.
Previous visits to the home raised no alarms about the child
Deputies had responded to the residence multiple times this year for family-related disturbances, primarily involving Paulynice and her sister who had previously lived there.
Officials noted that Ra’myl had not been part of those earlier disputes.
Just one day before investigators believe the boy was killed, officers visited the home on May 17 for a reported medical concern but found no apparent danger to the child at that time.
Police had been to the home just one day before the boy is believed to have died.
That visit on May 17 for a medical issue raised no red flags about the child’s safety.
How did the system miss what was coming?
Why didn’t anyone catch the warning signs before it was too late?
Community reels from unimaginable loss
Sheriff Del Toro didn’t mince words about the emotional toll this case took on his deputies.
“Being a parent, being out on a scene like that, seeing a 6-year-old child that was killed for no other reasons other than just someone being purely evil, it’s hard,” Del Toro said.
He remembered Ra’myl as a child who “just lit the room up and was loved by everybody,” adding that the school community would have “a very difficult time” coping with this loss.
Neighbors expressed shock at the news, with one telling reporters simply: “I’m devastated. I’m sick to my stomach.”
Mother faces multiple charges
Paulynice now faces charges of second-degree murder, failure to report a death, and tampering with a body.
She is currently being held without bond at the St. Lucie County Jail.
Mental health experts will likely be scrutinizing this case for years to come. How does a mother go from caring for her child to believing he’s possessed by demons?
What pushes someone over that edge?
Meanwhile, Ra’myl’s classmates and teachers are left with empty seats and broken hearts.
A bright light in their lives snuffed out far too soon.
Sheriff Del Toro summed it up best: this was a boy who “just lit the room up” wherever he went.
