A mental health expert has described the heartbreaking inner world of a mother whose untreated schizophrenia led her to push her three-year-old son on a swing for 44 hours until he died. Romechia Simms, then 24, pushed Ji'Aire Donnell Lee in a park in La Plata, Maryland, in May 2015. The toddler died from dehydration and hypothermia after temperatures dropped to 10C overnight.
Phil Macleod, a mental health expert and founder of Thought Reader, said schizophrenia can completely alter a person’s sense of reality. “For someone struggling with untreated schizophrenia, the responsibility of a new baby can become unbearably heavy,” he said. “In her mind, she may have believed she was doing something kind – taking her child to the park – not realising something was terribly wrong.”
Police were alerted by a concerned member of the public. An investigation by the Charles County Sheriff’s Office revealed Simms had been pushing Ji'Aire since 11.15am on 2 May. The boy was still alive when first placed on the swing but died two days later.
Simms had a history of mental health problems and had suffered a previous breakdown. In 2016, she avoided a prison sentence after a Maryland judge ordered her to adhere to a medication regime and attend psychiatric appointments.
Vontasha Simms, a relative, announced a charity in Ji'Aire’s memory to highlight the needs of those with mental illness. “Mental illness touches every family,” she wrote. “Let’s not shun them because it could be you.”
