Florida woman charged with second-degree murder in death of toddler

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida woman has been charged in the death of a toddler which detectives with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said happened nearly three months earlier.

Tracie Renee Puskac, 37, was taken into custody at her home in Summerfield on Monday, and charged with the second-degree murder of 17-month-old Jermiyah Puskac.

On April 27, sheriff’s deputies and Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR) responded to a residence on SE 42nd Avenue in reference to an unresponsive infant, later identified as Jermiyah. The infant was initially transported to AdventHealth Belleview, then subsequently transported to UF Health Shands Hospital for treatment. Jermiyah ultimately succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Detectives said Puskac, the mother of the infant, informed them that her child was banging his head on the floor the previous night, so she moved him to a safe spot and held him down. Less than two hours later, she said the child became “stiff as a board,” at which point she put him to bed. Puskac claimed that when she woke up the following morning, Jermiyah’s lips were blue and his breathing shallow, so she had her mother call 911.

Detectives said that, over the course of several interviews, Puskac gave different accounts of how the toddler hit his head. 

“MCSO detectives inquired as to why Puskac did not call 911 when the infant became ‘stiff’ the previous night,” the sheriff’s office said. “Puskac stated she did not want the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to come and take her children away again.”

According to the sheriff’s office, DCF has an open case with Puskac and had previously removed children from the home.  An autopsy report was released on July 7 by the Medical Examiner’s Office, which concluded that the child 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. Puskac w beinas g held at the Marion County Jail with no bond.