A Florida woman was charged in the May 1 beating death of her 4-year-old adopted son.
According to a May 8 statement from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, 36-year-old Patricia Boyer Saintizaire of Davenport, Florida, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and witness tampering in connection to the death of 4-year-old Brian Boyer.
Detectives from the sheriff’s office began an investigation after receiving a report from Orlando Health about a badly beaten boy who died in suspicious circumstances.
The Medical Examiner determined that the child showed signs of previous injuries from abuse, including a lacerated liver. The cause of death was blunt force trauma and ruled a homicide.
Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters that there was video footage showing 4-year-old Bryan, who was adopted by Saintizaire last year from Haiti, lying face down on the floor while Saintizaire beat him on the back. He said that based on the lack of resistance from the boy, such beatings were likely “a normal occurrence.”
Judd said Bryan was dead “because she beat him to death.”
According to investigators, Saintizaire said she picked Bryan up at a bus stop at around 5:10 p.m. on May 1. She told detectives that the child had been complaining of “flu-like” symptoms for a week. She said at around 8:00 p.m., she and her 16-year-old son, who is also adopted, woke Bryan up for dinner. During dinner, the child began to convulse and vomited multiple times.
Saintizaire claimed that as her 16-year-old son was carrying Bryan to the car to take him to the hospital, the boy began to convulse again and fell, landing on his back.
Saintizaire denied abusing the child. However, her other son told detectives that their mother would use a belt or something else to physically discipline them.
A search of Saintizaire’s home uncovered a cellphone video showing her striking the child on the back with an unidentified object. Another video showed Saintizaire tying Bryan’s hands behind his back before throwing him into a pool.
