Sheriff Grady Judd will brief the media at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon, May 8, 2024, at the PCSO Sheriff’s Operations Center in Winter Haven, about the arrest of a 36-year-old Davenport woman for the horrible murder of her 4-year-old child.
She is charged with first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and tampering with a witness.
Updated Arrest Affidavit Here:
On Thursday May 2, 2024 I was notified of victim being declared deceased at Orlando Health Advent and the hospital believed it was due to suspicious circumstances. Preliminary information revealed the victim was taken to Heart of Florida Hospital by, Patricia Saintizaire, and he was then flown to Orlando Health. At Orlando Health the hospital staff completed scans of the victim and observed he had an abdominal bleed and his stomach had filled with blood. After completing emergency surgery, the victim’s condition declined and he was declared deceased at 0533 hours.
I responded to 439 Majesty Dr, Davenport and made contact with Patricia and Rene Saintizaire. An interview was conducted with Patricia who advised the victim had been feeling ill for approximately one week and had “flu like symptoms”. The victim was taking over the counter medication to treat it. The victim went to school on Wednesday, May 1st and Patricia picked him up from the bus stop at approximately 1710 hours. Upon picking
the victim up she advised he complained he was weak and tired. When they arrived home, she instructed the victim to go lay down in his room and rest.
At approximately 2000 hours, Patricia along with REDACTED (the victim’s teenaged adoptive brother) went in to the victim’s room to wake him up. After waking him up Patricia gave him a bath and prepared him noodles for dinner. Patricia advised she fed the victim noodles and as he was finishing them, he began to “visibly shake”. Patricia advised after the shaking subsided, the victim vomited three times and became very lethargic causing Patricia to became worried.
At that time, Patricia prepared to take the victim to the hospital and REDACTED carried him to their vehicle parked in the driveway. According to REDACTED, as he was carrying the victim to the vehicle, the victim began to violently shake again. This shaking caused REDACTED to lose his grip and the victim fell onto the driveway landing on his back. The victim was loaded into the vehicle and they responded to the hospital. They arrived at Heart of Florida in Haines City where the medical staff immediately took the victim and assumed lifesaving care until the victim was transferred Orlando Health.
During the interview, Patricia advised her discipline for the victim was non-physical and she stated that she would take away his tablet and TV time as punishment. Patricia denied ever using physical discipline as a way of punishment.
An interview was conducted with Rene (step-father). Rene advised he was not present at the residence for this incident due to being at work from 12 noon to 11 pm. This information was confirmed and it was verified that Rene was at work during the timeframe the incident occurred. Rene advised he never physically disciplines the victim or REDACTED. Rene stated he does know Patricia spanks the victim and further stated that she is the main caretaker who disciplines the victim.
Investigation revealed the victim was born in Haiti and was brought to the United States in April of 2023. The victim was brought into the care of Patricia and Rene with his adoptive brother REDACTED. REDACTED advised during their time together living in Haiti, the boys would be physically disciplined by receiving multiple strikes with a belt and a homemade hitting device. REDACTED stated the strikes from unidentified persons would be numerous and were to the victim’s back, arms and stomach. REDACTED also received similar discipline in Haiti and also had similar scarring. REDACTED advised Patricia has physically disciplined him in Haiti by hitting him with belts and other devices but she has not done this to him since he arrived in the United States.
A search of the residence was conducted. Blood was observed on the door to the bedroom and the rug on the bathroom floor. Patricia’s explanation of the blood was the victim had a bloody nose and it got on the door and rug when she was cleaning it. Also, I observed freshly plastered holes in the wall in the bedroom. REDACTED originally advised these holes were caused by him in the past.
I responded to the victim’s school which is Loughman Oaks Elementary. The victim was in preschool and in an ESE class due to him not being communicative. I spoke with teaching staff who was present with the victim during the day of May 1st. They advised the victim was in good condition and seemed to be in normal health. The victim did not complain of any stomach pain or any pain at all.
At this point in the investigation, Patricia denied any accidental or intentional injury occurring to the victim. She only indicated that the victim was dealing with a common cold.
On Friday, May 3rd, 2024, I attended the autopsy of victim at the District 09 Medical Examiner’s Office. Doctor Stephany conducted the autopsy. Doctor Stephany advised the victim had scarring on his back. He noted there was old scarring present, but there was also fresh scars that would’ve occurred while the victim was living in the United States. Doctor Stephany stated the victim’s liver had a deep laceration on it that was caused by a targeted blunt force trauma injury. Doctor Stephany advised the liver laceration would have caused a rapid decline in the victim’s health. He stated the liver injury would have had effects immediately. Doctor Stephany advised the victim had no broken or fractured bones but he had bruising/hemorrhage to his arms and legs. Doctor Stephany advised these injuries are consistent with ongoing abuse. Doctor Stephany advised the cause of death is Assault/Blunt Force Trauma and the manner of death is Homicide.
On Friday, May 3rd, a secondary interview was conducted alone with REDACTED. During this interview, REDACTED stated that the victim got in trouble for spitting on a child while riding home on the school bus Wednesday (5/1). For this reason, and the fact that the victim was sick, Patricia instructed the victim to go to his room upon arriving home from school. According to REDACTED, he went to the garage and completed homework, listened to music, and was on social media for a few hours. As a result, he did not hear or see what occurred.
At some point, Patricia told REDACTED to make noodles for the victim. REDACTED made noodles for the victim and took them to the bedroom for the victim. At that time, REDACTED observed Patricia was assisting the victim back to the bedroom. According to REDACTED, the victim’s status was not the same as it was when they arrived home from school and the victim was no longer walking on his own. Patricia placed the victim on the bed and attempted to feed him. During this time, the victim struggled to sit up on his own accord. REDACTED stated that Patricia told him the victim was faking it and was acting like this because he was hungry. After REDACTED saw the victim in this state, he told Patricia that they should go to the hospital. A few minutes later, REDACTED stated the victim went unresponsive and he began performing CPR prior to them responding to the hospital.
REDACTED stated he has not seen Patricia physically abuse the victim; however, he stated that she has beat him (REDACTED) with belts and cords in the past in Haiti. REDACTED stated Patricia would take the victim to the side and out of sight when the victim got into trouble. These incidents would cause the victim to have questionable injuries that made REDACTED question them. There have been times where REDACTED saw a bruise on the victim causing him to ask Patricia about them. Patricia indicated it was from skin complications; however, REDACTED didn’t believe this to be true. REDACTED also advised when the victim would sustain these questionable injuries, Patricia would not allow the victim to attend school. If he did go to school, REDACTED advised that Patricia always wanted the victim dressed in long sleeve shirts; no matter the weather.
During the interview REDACTED advised that he was untruthful during the first interview law enforcement conducted with him because Patricia sitting next to him at the time. Prior to making contact with law enforcement, Patricia told him “when they ask you something, say nothing so I don’t get in trouble”. REDACTED stated he lied in the first interview because he was scared of getting Patricia in trouble. Specifically, REDACTED advised when he was carrying the victim to the vehicle he never dropped him. He lied about dropping him because Patricia told him to because the victim had bruising on his back. REDACTED stated Patricia told him and the victim “if you don’t change your ways I will kill you”. Also Patricia said “if I had a gun you would both be dead already”. REDACTED also advised the holes in the bedroom he previously claimed he made was also a lie. REDACTED stated he does not know how the holes occurred but they were not there prior to them coming home from school on Wednesday May 1st. REDACTED stated he became aware of the hole when law enforcement was on scene. REDACTED also stated when he was in the garage he observed Patricia come in there and get a bucket of plaster. REDACTED became curious and went to see what she was doing with it. When REDACTED went inside he observed Patricia plastering a hole in the kitchen. REDACTED did not inquire how the hole occurred.
REDACTED advised Patricia was the only person with the victim while in the residence. REDACTED noted the victim was in normal health when getting off the bus and was walking on his own accord. This was also corroborated by interviews and video surveillance. The next time REDACTED observed the victim, he was having to be heavily assisted by Patricia to walk and he was not the same as before. This narrowed timeframe in which the victim’s status greatly altered is consistent with the information learned at autopsy.
REDACTED does not know exactly what occurred in the residence because he was in the garage while Patricia was inside with the victim. REDACTED advised when he came inside Patricia was frustrated when patching a hole in the kitchen. REDACTED believed Patricia had to of caused the injuries to the victim because she was the only person with him when this incident occurred.
On May 3, 2024 a search warrant was obtained for Patricia’s phone and was signed by the Honorable Judge Stacie Kaylor.
On May 6, 2024 I went through the phone download and observed text messages from Patricia to multiple individuals about the victim. The following are text messages observed.
2/13/2024 @2158: REDACTED – Hi mom are you sleeping I’m trying to send Bryan to use the bathroom but he doesn’t want to.
2/13/2024 @2158: REDACTED- I went downstairs with him and he doesn’t want to. He’s just crying
2/13/2024 @2159: Patricia – just give him a whooping
2/13/2024 @2159: REDACTED – he’s on the floor. He doesn’t want to. He is only scared of you
4/17/2024 @0637: Rene – what happened why is Bryan not going to school. Patricia did not reply
4/29/2024 @1541: Patricia – Bryan he’s fine he was running yesterday he fell down and hit much (sent this to Bryan’s teacher)
During the review of the phone download I observed a video clip dated October 20, 2023 at 2252 hours showing what appears to be Patricia actively hitting the victim with an unknown object multiple times. The victim is seen lying on the ground showing no signs of responsiveness. Another video clip found shows what appears to be Patricia holding an electrical cord in her hands. Additionally a video was located and it is dated October 22, 2023. This video shows Patricia dragging the victim to the pool and throwing him in. While she is throwing him in the pool, the victim’s hands are tied behind his back with a tie. During the interaction the victim is seen to be in a terrified posture consistent with him trying to stop her from throwing him in. These videos were found on Patricia’s cell phone. The bedroom from the first video and the pool seen are the same residence your affiant saw on the initial consensual search.
Based on the investigation thus far, Patricia is the primary caregiver for the victim and has demonstrated an on-going pattern of maliciously punishing, and/or knowingly or willfully abusing the victim. These events occurred on numerous occasions leading up to the incident. On the date of the incident, Patricia was the only caregiver present at the house with the victim. The victim arrived home from school that day and was in normal health and spirits. A few hours later, the victim was taken to the hospital and subsequently died from internal bleeding caused by blunt force trauma to the abdomen. This type of injury is consistent with Patricia’s on going abuse of the victim as described above.
This information, coupled with the history of Patricia physically hitting REDACTED in Haiti, the unexplainable and questionable injuries seen by REDACTED since the victim has lived in Polk County, and the attendance record from the victim’s school- which from REDACTED’s interview was believed to be hiding the injuries from school staff- leads myself to believe Patricia Saintizaire committed the crimes of Aggravated Child Abuse FSS 827.03 which led to the death of the victim resulting in the crime of First Degree Murder (Felony Murder) FSS 782.04. Patricia also committed the crime of Tampering with a Witness in a Capital Felony FSS 914.22 by telling REDACTED what to say to law enforcement so she did not get in trouble.
Level Charge Literal FC FIRST DEGREE MURDER
F1 AGGRAVATED CHILD ABUSE
FL TAMPER WITNESS-CAPITAL FELONY
