The mother who St. Paul police say threw her 11-year-old autistic son from a fourth-floor apartment balcony told them during questioning “I snapped,” according to criminal charges.
She went on to say that raising a largely nonverbal child with disabilities on her own was difficult, and admitted his medical issues sometimes made her wish “that heaven was the boy’s home,” the charges say.
A police sergeant asked her: “In that moment, were you trying to kill him,” according to the charges. Lloyd responded: “Yes, but I want my baby here.”
Itayvia Demetiric Lloyd, 33, was charged Wednesday with attempted murder in Ramsey County District Court.
Lloyd was initially non-responsive when police came to her apartment after finding her son on the ground with extensive injuries Monday morning.
Later, after her 6-year-old son told officers that his mother had pushed his older brother off the balcony and Lloyd was arrested, she started rambling incoherently, according to the criminal charges. She spoke of people being after her for years and a woman hating her.
At one point she reportedly starting ripping up papers on a table and later exposed herself, prompting investigators to end the interview, according to the charges.
But on Tuesday, Lloyd told officers she was ready to talk about what happened, according to the charges.
She said she went to a memorial service for a relative that weekend and woke up not feeling like herself. She’s been struggling with drinking and was under a lot of stress, she said, according to the charges.
Then, she and her girlfriend got in a fight, and Lloyd found herself in a fit of rage so intense that it made her want to hurt her 11-year-old son, she told officers.
Lloyd said she remembered going into her son’s room Monday morning and possibly carrying him to the balcony, adding that she “could have pushed him off, but she wasn’t in her right state of mind,” the complaint said.
“I snapped,” she told officers.
She added that her behavior in her first interview with officers had been an act.
JUDGE ORDERS EVALUATIONS
In addition to the second-degree attempted murder charge, Lloyd faces two counts of fourth-degree assault for allegedly attempting to punch an officer and spitting on another after her arrest.
She made her first court appearance Wednesday morning. At the hearing, her public defender requested two mental health evaluations be ordered for Lloyd, one to determine if she’s competent to stand trial and the second to see if mental illness or cognitive impairment could be a defense for her alleged actions, according to court records.
Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher ordered both evaluations and ruled Lloyd be held in custody without bail or bond amounts set until the results of the evaluations are returned May 26.
Lloyd’s lawyer, Adrianne McMahon, said the evaluations are necessary.
“There is a lot more going on in this case then what is being portrayed by the state in the complaint,” McMahon said. She added that it was partly for that reason that she asked the judge to order that Lloyd be evaluated by mental health professionals.
POLICE FOUND SON INJURED
Police were called to Union Flats apartments on Hampden Avenue near Charles Avenue in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood around 8:40 a.m. Monday after a person reported what they thought was an attempted suicide.
Police found the 11-year-old boy in his underwear on the ground in the apartment building’s courtyard. He was bleeding from his mouth but conscious and breathing, charges say.
Paramedics took him to Regions Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
He is still being treated for a range of injuries, which are not life threatening, including at least one broken femur, a fractured jaw and head injuries. Additional surgeries are in his future, according to the charges.
Officers who went to his apartment found his 6-year-old brother at the door and Lloyd in the bathtub.
BROTHER TOLD POLICE WHAT HAPPENED
When Lloyd didn’t respond to officers questions about what had happened to the 11-year-old boy, they turned to the 6-year-old.
The boy told officers he awoke that morning to his older brother laughing and Lloyd saying, “This is not a joke — stop laughing,” the complaint said. He said the exchange happened shortly after he heard his mother and stepmother fighting.
Then he watched Lloyd carry the 11-year-old off his top bunk and into the living room. When the 6-year-old followed a few minutes later, his brother wasn’t there and Lloyd told him she threw the boy off the balcony, he told officers, according to the charges.
The 6-year-old was taken into the custody of child protection services.
Officers later talked to Lloyd’s girlfriend, who told police she and Lloyd had been in a relationship for three years. She said the 11-year-old boy is autistic and only uses the words “yes” and “no” to communicate.
The morning of the incident, she said Lloyd had been acting “out of her mind.” At some point, the woman left the apartment to go to the vending machine. She said the 11-year-old was gone when she returned so she went looking for him and found him on the ground outside.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi called the incident “one of the most tragic cases that has happened during (his) time as county attorney,” adding:
“My heart breaks for this 11-year-old boy who is recovering from his massive injuries and for this family, including the mother who stands accused of attempted murder,” according to a statement released by his office.
Lloyd’s next hearing is scheduled for May 26.