A Summerfield mother has been arrested in connection with the death of her 17-month-old son.
Tracie Renee Puskac, 36, was taken into custody Monday in the death of her son, Jermiyah Puskac.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies and Marion County Fire Rescue on April 27 responded to the Puskac home 13520 SE 42nd Ave. in Summerfield, in reference to an unresponsive infant, later identified as Jermiyah. The infant was initially transported to AdventHealth Belleview ER, then subsequently transported to UF Health Shands Hospital for treatment.
Puskac informed detectives that Jermiyah was banging his head on the floor at approximately 8:30 p.m. the previous night, so she moved him to a safe spot and held him down. Then, at 10 p.m., he became “stiff as a board,” at which point she put him to bed. Puskac claimed that when she woke up the following day at approximately 7 a.m., Jermiyah’s lips were blue and his breathing shallow, so she had her mother call 911.
Over the course of several interviews with Puskac, her versions of the night’s events continued to change, giving detectives different accounts of how Jermiyah hit his head. Detectives inquired as to why Puskac did not call 911 when the infant became “stiff” the previous night. Puskac stated she did not want the Department of Children and Families to come and take her children away again. DCF has an open case with Puskac and had previously removed the children from the home.
Jermiyah ultimately succumbed to his injuries on April 29. On July 7, the 8th Circuit Medical Examiner’s Office provided the autopsy results, concluding that Jermiyah died from complications of a skull fracture, subdural hemorrhage, and traumatic brain and spinal cord injury due to abusive head and neck trauma. Due to these injuries, it was determined the manner of death was a homicide. An investigation determined that Jermiyah’s injuries were too severe to be caused by any of Puskac’s scenarios, and an arrest warrant for Puskac was obtained.
She is facing a charge of second degree murder. She was being held without bond at the Marion County Jail.