Following a 6-year-old boy’s two-week absence from school, administrators called the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office (70 miles northwest of Palm Beach, Fla.) to do a welfare check. What they found was a horrifying scene as they arrested the boy’s mother for second-degree murder. 

Rhonda Paulynice, 41, claimed she was “trying to exorcise demons” out of her son’s body. Ra’myl Pierre, a student at Samuel Gaines Academy in the St. Lucie Public School District, was found dead on his bed.

“In speaking with the mother, she believed she was being told by God to exorcise demons out of the child’s body,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro said during a press briefing on Friday. “When the child had stopped moving and passed away, at that point, she felt the child had been released of those demons and was waiting for him to basically come back [to life] at that time.”

Based on reports from the Sheriff’s Office, USA Today notes Paulynice took deputies to her son’s room where the boy was “wrapped in fabric with only his face exposed” lying on his bed. Investigators believe he died on May 18 and has been in his room ever since. 

Lieutenant Andrew Bolonka, a St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said, “The Medical Examiner’s investigation is still ongoing, and additional analyses, including toxicology testing, have yet to be completed. Until the full investigation is concluded, no definitive conclusions can be drawn.”

An affidavit obtained by local Treasure Coast News in southeastern Florida states Paulynice admitted to putting her hand over her son’s mouth, trying to suffocate him to exorcise her son’s demons. Additionally, arrest records read that Paulynice appeared ”indifferent to her son’s death, the role she played in his death or her actions of not reporting it.”  

“Our hearts are with the student’s family, friends, classmates, and all who loved and cared for him during this incredibly difficult time,” St. Lucie Public Schools said in a statement.

Del Toro shared that his office will not release any other information “out of respect for the family’s privacy and the ongoing investigation.” 

In addition to second-degree murder, Paulynice is charged with failure to report a death and willfully touching or moving the body. She is currently being held on a $150,000 bond.