Mom Pushed Son on Swing for Two Days Before He Died

A 3-year-old Maryland boy died after his mother allegedly pushed him on a playground swing for nearly two straight days in a horrifying case that was ultimately ruled a homicide.

Little Ji’Aire Donnell Lee was reportedly still alive when his mother, Romechia Simms, first placed him on the swing at a park in La Plata, Maryland, in May 2015.

But authorities said Simms remained at the playground for roughly 44 hours, repeatedly pushing her young son back and forth as temperatures dropped overnight.

By the time police arrived, Ji’Aire was dead.

The disturbing scene was discovered after a concerned person noticed the mother and child had been at the playground for an unusually long time and called authorities.

Investigators with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office later determined Simms had arrived at the park at around 11:15 a.m. on May 2 and remained there for nearly two days.

Temperatures reportedly fell to around 50 degrees overnight.

An autopsy found Ji’Aire died from dehydration and hypothermia, according to authorities. His death was officially ruled a homicide.

Simms, who was 24 at the time, had a documented history of serious mental illness.

She was eventually charged with involuntary manslaughter, first-degree child abuse and child neglect resulting in death.

But the case took another dramatic turn when a court-appointed forensic psychologist determined Simms suffered from schizophrenia and was not criminally responsible for her son’s death because of her mental condition.

Prosecutors ultimately agreed to an Alford plea, which allows a defendant to maintain their innocence while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a conviction.

In 2016, Simms avoided prison under a court-approved arrangement that required her to take prescribed medication and continue attending psychiatric appointments.

At the time of Ji’Aire’s death, Simms had reportedly been living with her mother at the Deluxe Inn motel in La Plata.

Her mother, Vontasha Simms, later pleaded for compassion toward people suffering from mental illness and announced plans for a charity in Ji’Aire’s memory.

“Mental illness touches every family in this country,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

She urged people not to “shun” those struggling with psychiatric disorders, saying mental illness can affect “a mother, father, sister, brother, a child, a family member or yourself.”

The horrifying circumstances surrounding Ji’Aire’s death have continued to draw attention more than a decade later, particularly because investigators concluded the toddler was alive when the ordeal began — and remained on the swing until his body could no longer survive the cold and lack of water.