Florida mother accused of killing son told deputies ‘he’s going to go back to school’

By Meghan McRoberts , Scott Sutton

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    ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Florida (WPTV) — WPTV obtained body camera video that showed the moments St. Lucie County deputies first encountered a mother who now faces a second-degree murder charge in the death of her 6-year-old son.

Rhonda Paulynice, 41, was arrested Friday and told investigators she was trying to exorcise demons from her son.

In the body camera video, deputies approached Paulynice outside her home, telling her they were checking on her child, who had been reported missing from school.

“They haven’t been in school this whole month?” a deputy asked Paulynice on the video.

“Oh no no no. It’s just that I haven’t sent him to school yet,” Paulynice responded.

“So, from what I’m being told, he hasn’t been in school this whole month,” the deputy then replied, “(since the) 14th. The school is unaware of what’s going on with him.”

“Oh, he’s going to go back to school,” Paulynice then said to the deputy.

“At this point, it’s already reached a point of truancy,” the deputy told Paulynice.

The deputy later asks her if her son is home.

“Yes,” she said.

“Is there any way I could at least see him to make sure that he’s OK?” the deputy asked her.

After a long pause, she then replies, “sure.”

The body camera video showed that Paulynice was scrolling on her phone during the interaction. They asked her if she had an ID and said she had a picture of it on her phone.

Deputies later went inside Paulynice’s home, finding her son, Ra’Myl Pierre, dead in a bedroom.

The sheriff’s office said the child was last seen on May 17 but had been dead for several days.

Paulynice told deputies she suffocated her son on May 18, according to the probable cause affidavit. This was 12 days before the boy’s body was found on May 30.

“According to Paulynice, she committed these acts under direction from God,” the arrest report said.

After suffocating him, the report said she continued to check on him daily.

“She checks on him and blows warm air on his face, looking for signs of life and the return (of) her son,” the affidavit said. “Paulynice stated she did observe changes in his appearance and understood he was deceased, but continued to keep him in the home.”

The official cause of death has not been released.

Paulynice was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder.

Preliminary autopsy completed

The sheriff’s office said Tuesday that preliminary findings from the autopsy do not refute the mother’s account of the events surrounding her son’s death.

However, they said these findings were not final, and the Medical Examiner’s investigation is still ongoing. Investigators said additional analyses, including toxicology testing, have yet to be completed.

“Until the full investigation is concluded, no definitive conclusions can be drawn,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “The investigation remains active.”

Sheriff Richard Del Toro also urged anyone with information in the case to come forward.

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