A woman has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of her 17-month-old son earlier this year.
Tracie Renee Puskac was booked into the Marion County Jail on Monday. According to the Marion County Children’s Alliance Violence Protect Workgroup, the death of her son Jermiyah was the first domestic violence homicide of 2023 in Marion County. Last year there were four.
County Judge LeAnn Mackey-Barnes ordered Puskac held without bail. The Public Defender’s Office will represent her. She does not have a criminal record, according to court records.
This is how the case developed
Marion County Sheriff’s Inspector John Lightle said in his arrest affidavit that deputies went to Puskac’s Summerfield home, in the 13500 block of Southeast 42nd Avenue, the morning of April 27 in reference to a call about an unresponsive child.
The child was taken to Adventhealth ER in Belleview, then transported to UF Health Shands Hospital for further treatment, the affidavit states. He died two days later.
Puskac told Deputy Chad Haufler that Jermiyah has autism and had a “fit” the day before. The mother said her son was “banging his head against the tile floor in the dining area” with his face down. She told the deputy that she moved her son to what was described as “a safe spot” and then held him down in a “lock position.”
A few hours later, Puskac said, her son was “stiff as a board.” Puskac said she put her son in bed and “periodically monitored him.” About 7 a.m. the next day (April 27,) she noticed her son had shallow breathing and his lips were blue. Puskac asked her mother to call 911.
Puskac told Lightle that her children had returned from foster care about six months ago. They had been placed there by the state Department of Children and Families, which still had an open case. The case was scheduled to be closed on May 31.
Puskac said her son “bangs his head a lot” and had been doing so frequently since he came from foster care about six months prior. She said all he did was scream and cry, and didn’t even wake up happy.
Puskac told the detective she believed her son had suffered a seizure and was “stiff as a board” the night before. She thought he was “just playing around,” according to the affidavit. She said when she checked on the children about 11 the previous night, her son did not move and had light breathing. In the morning, she said, his lips were blue.
While her mother called 911, Puskac performed chest compressions on the child. She said said blood was coming from her son’s nose and mouth.
Puskac’s mother told the detective that that children had been taken by DCF because Puskac’s sister falsely accused Puskac of using drugs. Puskac said she had used fentanyl in the past but was sober at the time of the child’s death.
On April 28, Lightle received medical records from Shands and spoke with hospital officials. The detective was told that there were signs of physical abuse and the child was in critical condition with signs of “significant brain injury.” In the affidavit, Lightle noted that the boy had injuries on his forehead, chest, back, ribs and arms.
Detectives continued their investigation. Asked about the head bruise, Puskac gave several explanations: He had banged his head a few days earlier; he had fallen in the bathtub; the child’s 4-year-old sister had hit him with a toy; he had fallen off the bed.
Jermiyah died on April 29. He had suffered “a skull fracture, subdural hemorrhage, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries,” the affidavit says. The injuries stemmed from an “abusive trauma of the head and neck.” The manner of death was listed as a homicide.