Saturday, May 30, 2015

A biased Judge, a mentally ill mother, and a dead three year old child

Jiaire Romechia
Romechia Simms and Jiaire Lee
A few days ago Police reported that a 24-year-old woman was found pushing her dead 3-year-old son for hours in a swing at a Maryland park.


Officers first responded to the park at just before 7 a.m. Police said that the 24 year old woman, Romechia Simms, may have been at the La Plata park in Maryland since the day before, which corresponds with her grandmother's account of the last time she saw her daughter and grandson.  Romechia was taken to a hospital.

The grandmother, Vontasha Simms, told Washington Post News  (video), that her grandson had a chest cold and Romechia may have given him medicine the day before.  She said Romechia and Ji'ere were holding hands when they left for the park the afternoon before the little boy was found dead in the park swing.  The grandmother expresses concern that the little boy's chest cold may have been exacerbated by the amount of time JiAire was exposed to the cold and rainy weather.  Previously Simms' mother had told reporters, "You know, I just believe she had some type of mental illness, some type of mental break that came upon her where she wasn't able to get herself out of that situation." Ms Simms's mother said Romechia was diagnosed with depression about three months ago while struggling to care for her son.

According to some reports, the family were homeless and living in a hotel, this seems to be verified by the father of the little boy in an interview he did late last week.

James Lee is the father of JiAire Lee.  A few days before JiAire died,  Lee had tried to gain sole custody of his son because he claimed he suspected Simms was suffering from mental illness, but a Judge denied the request. Lee says he thinks the legal system is partially to blame for his son Ji'Aire's death. [video link]
James Lee, father of 3 year old JiAire Lee
"He deemed her, at that moment, a fit parent," Lee said. "I'm not saying she isn't, but in this situation, he just didn't pay attention to the signs." “Women get slapped on the wrist,” he said. “Men get grinded into dog meat.”

The day before the child was found, Romechia had called Lee saying she and her mother were having issues and wanted him to come and get she and the little boy.  Lee said by the time he got off work Romechia had stopped answering her phone.

Lee, who is estranged from Ji'Aire's mother, posted a heartbreaking video on his Facebook  on Wednesday, thanking people who donated to a GoFundMe page for little JiAire's funeral. More than $10,000 has already been raised.  On the video Lee is heard saying, "I wish I could hug every one of y'all around the world".

Romechia Simms remains in the hospital and foul play has not been ruled out.

As of yesterday, investigators were still waiting on the toddler's toxicology report and medical records, as well as those of the mother. Diane Richardson, of the Charles County Sherrif's Office, said: "This is a top priority for us".