MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A Marion County woman was arrested Monday after deputies said she caused injuries to his head and neck, resulting in his death in April.
Deputies said that on April 27, they responded to 13520 S.E. 42nd Ave. in Summerfield after receiving a call about an “unresponsive infant,” later identified as 17-month-old Jermiyah.
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The toddler was taken to the hospital for treatment, and his mother — Tracie Puskac, 36 — told detectives that he had been banging his head on the floor the previous night, so she moved him to a safe spot and held him down, a release from the sheriff’s office shows.
According to the sheriff’s office, the mother also told detectives that over an hour later, Jermiyah became “stiff as a board,” and she then put him to bed.
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According to Puskac, she woke up the following morning to find Jermiya’s lips were blue and his breathing shallow, so she had her mother call 911, deputies said.
Her story changed, however, over the course of several interviews with investigators, giving different accounts of how her son had hit his head, detectives said.
When asked why she hadn’t called 911 when Jermiyah became stiff that night, Puskac explained that she didn’t want the Department of Children and Families to come and take her children away again, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives said that Puskac has previously had her children removed by DCF, which has an open case with the suspect.
Two days later, on April 29, Jermiyah died from his injuries, according to investigators. An autopsy concluded that Jermiyah died from complications of a skull fracture, subdural hemorrhage and traumatic brain and spinal injury due to injuries to his head and neck, deputies said.
According to the sheriff’s office, detectives realized that Jermiyah’s injuries were too severe to have been caused by any of the scenarios provided by his mother, and an arrest warrant was issued for Puskac’s arrest.
She was later found and arrested at her home and faces a charge of second-degree murder. She is being held on no bond.
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