By Julie Zauzmer, DeNeen L. Brown and Ian Shapira June 30 at 10:21 PM
The story was chilling and heartbreaking: A 3-year-old boy was found dead in a Southern Maryland park, his mother pushing him on the swing.
More than a month after Ji’Aire Donnell Lee’s death, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office revealed more terrible details: Ji’Aire was alive when his mother put him on the swing. He stayed on it for almost two days.
A medical examiner’s office has ruled that Ji’Aire’s death was a homicide, and the sheriff’s office said Tuesday that he died of hypothermia and dehydration during his long time on the swing. The autopsy report will be sent to the county state’s attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file charges against Ji’Aire’s mother, Romechia Simms.
Kristen Ayers, of the state’s attorney’s office, said that because prosecutors had not received the autopsy report, they cannot say whether they will file charges.
Ji’Aire was dead when police found his mother pushing him in Wills Memorial Park the morning of May 22. At the time, police were unsure when and how he died.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/sheriffs-office-death-of-boy-found-on-park-swing-was-a-homicide/2015/06/30/782b7c92-1f5b-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html?hpid=z3
