A Pennsylvania woman charged with strangling her son last spring, after which she attempted to drive into the ocean in Cape May, has chosen to have her case heard by a judge rather than a jury. According to the Cape May County Herald, 51 year old
Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead appeared at a pretrial hearing in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and waived her right to a jury trial. Instead she will have her case decided by the trial judge. DiRienzo-Whitehead has been found competent to stand trial for the murder of her 11-year-old son Matthew in their home during the evening of April 10, 2023.