A Florida mother is facing charges in the horrific murder of her 4-year-old son who authorities said had been severely abused.
Patricia Saintizaire, 36, is facing charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and tampering with a witness, Polk County Sheriff's Office officials said Wednesday.
Sheriff's office officials said they were contacted on May 2 by officials from Orlando Health hospital who said the 4-year-old had died under suspicious circumstances.
The boy had been flown to the hospital after suffering an abdominal bleed, but an autopsy found his liver had a deep laceration on it that was caused by a targeted blunt force trauma injury, officials said.
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He also had fresh scars and bruises on his arms and legs consistent with abuse, officials said.
The boy's teen brother had found unable to walk on his own, and said he struggled to sit up on his own. Saintizaire told the older brother that the victim was "faking it" and to feed him, authorities said.
When the he boy became unresponsive, the older brother began performing CPR on him and told Saintizaire they needed to take him to the hospital.
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The older brother said Saintizaire told him "when they ask you something, say nothing so I don't get in trouble," and that she threatened to kill him with a gun, officials said.
Investigators learned Saintizaire, of Davenport, had adopted the boy from Haiti in 2023.
Saintizaire repeatedly denied to detectives that she ever used physical discipline as punishment but detectives said they found two disturbing videos from her home's surveillance cameras.
One video showed Saintizaire hitting the child with an unknown object while the child is laying on a floor, unresponsive, while another video clip showed her throwing the child into a pool while both of his hands are tied behind his back.
