4-year-old boy beaten to death in Davenport, PCSO says. Adoptive mother charged with murder

Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger
·4 min read
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd talks about the investigation into the death of a 4-year-old Haitian boy in Davenport. His adoptive mother, Patricia Boyer Saintizaire, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder. "He's dead because she beat him to death," Judd said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd talks about the investigation into the death of a 4-year-old Haitian boy in Davenport. His adoptive mother, Patricia Boyer Saintizaire, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder. "He's dead because she beat him to death," Judd said.

A Davenport woman has been charged with beating her 4-year-old adopted son to death, according to Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Patricia Boyer Saintizaire, 36, of Davenport, faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and tampering with a witness in a capital felony case.

"We don't believe we know all that this child suffered," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "We have another video clip where he's face down on the floor and she's beating him on the back, and he's not even resisting it. It's like it's a normal occurrence."

On May 2, Polk detectives began their investigation after receiving a call from Orlando Health of a young boy dying under suspicious circumstances. An autopsy performed by the District 9 Medical Examiner's Office found several layers of injuries during an autopsy of Bryan Boyer, indicating severe beatings or abuse, including a deep laceration to his liver. The cause of death was ruled homicide by assault/blunt force trauma.

"He's dead because she beat him to death," he said.

Bryan was born in Haiti to a mother who did not want him, according to Judd. Saintizaire's sister helped arrange for his adoption, a three-year process. The boy had arrived in Saintizaire's custody approximately a year ago.

Bryan Boyer, 4, died at the beginning of the month at Orlando Health. The District 9 Medical Examiner's Office found several layers of injuries, indicating severe beatings or abuse, including a deep laceration to his liver. The cause of death was ruled homicide by assault/blunt force trauma, and his adoptive mother, Patricia Boyer Saintizaire, 36, of Davenport has been charged with first-degree murder.

On May 1, Bryan was picked up from the bus stop about 5:10 p.m. by Saintizaire. Upon interview with detectives, Saintizaire said the boy had complained he was weak and tired, having had "flu-like" symptoms for a week, according to a police affidavit.

About 8 p.m., Saintizaire and her adopted 16-year-old son found Bryan in his room and woke him up to eat dinner. During dinner, Bryan began to "visibly shake," then vomited three times and was visibly lethargic, according to the affidavit.

As the 16-year-old carried Bryan to the car, he began to shake violently again and fell, landing on his back. Saintizaire brought Bryan to AdventHealth Heart of Florida hospital in Haines City, where medical staff began life-saving care. The boy was airlifted to Orlando Health, where he died.

Upon questioning, Saintizaire denied ever using physical discipline as punishment for Bryan, according to a police affidavit. Her husband, Rene Saintizaire, said he never physically disciplined the child, but told detectives his wife did spank the boy and his main caretaker. However, the 16-year-old told detectives the boys would be physically disciplined receiving multiple strikes from a belt and homemade hitting device, according to a police affidavit. The strikes, noted as coming from "unidentified persons," would be to Bryan's back, arms and stomach. The 16-year-old boy said he received similar discipline from Saintizaire while in Haiti, but had not had this done to him in the United States.

Staff at Bryan's school, Loughman Oaks Elementary, said that he appeared in good condition and did not have any complaints of pain on May 1, according to a police affidavit.

The Sheriff's Office obtained a search warrant for the Saintizaire's Davenport home on May 3. Judd said detectives went through her cell phone to find a video of her hitting Bryan with an unknown object, and another of her tying the boy's hands behind his back and throwing him into a pool.

These videos were released to the media by PCSO, but have not been shared by The Ledger in accordance with our crime reporting policies.

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Saintizaire and her husband have obtained a lawyer to represent them, Judd said.

Rene Saintizaire was at work from noon to 11 p.m. on the day Bryan died and is not facing charges at this time. The investigation remains active.

"I can assure you of this, if you hear something, see something, or believe something, or think something about a child being neglected or abused, if you call us, I assure you we will completely and thoroughly investigate it with [Department of Children and Families]," Judd said. "Our No. 1 goal in this organization is to protect the children. "

This is at least the third instance this year in Polk County where a parent or caregiver has been charged with killing a child in their custody younger than 4.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Davenport woman charged with murder of 4-year-old adopted son