An argument over a bad grade pushed a Florida teen “sociopath” to kill his mother, hide her body, then stage a burglary at his home, police said.
Gregory Ramos of Volusia County is charged with the murder of his mother, Gail Cleavenger.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood argued that Ramos should be charged as an adult because he is a “soulless individual,” and is one of the “top three sociopaths” he has ever met, WKMG reported.
Ramos is accused of strangling his mother Thursday night after she confronted him about a D he received in one of his classes.
He then reportedly used a wheelbarrow to move her body into a van before burying her under a fire pit at the River City Church early Friday, police said.
Ramos called 911 after he got home from school Friday and reported his mother missing and his home burglarized. Chitwood said detectives were suspicious of Ramos because they noticed scratches on his face.
Upon searching the woods, police say, they discovered a shovel Ramos used to bury Cleavenger and a broom he used to clean up his tracks. They also found a Playstation4 that he reported missing during the phony burglary.
Gail CleavengerVolusia County Sheriff's Office Police discovered Cleavenger’s body in the church fire pit early Saturday, Newsweek reported.
Ramos enlisted the help of his friends Dylan Ceglarek and Brian Porras, both 17, to stage the crime scene, police said. During questioning, the teens confessed to helping Ramos, prompting Ramos to fess up to the murder, according to cops.
Ramos reportedly bragged that he gave an “award-winning performance” for the cops while reporting the break-in.
“The case we worked tonight was one of the most disturbing and saddest I’ve seen in my career. I have a feeling this is a case we’ll be hearing about for years. All our hearts break for this family,” Chitwood tweeted on Saturday.
Ironically, Ramos told Sgt. A.J. Pagliari that he dreamed of becoming a homicide detective like him one day. Ramos was a member of the Orange City Police Explorers and took criminal justice classes in which he studied crime scenes, reported the Orlando Sentinel.
Ramos also told Pagliari that his mother was abusive toward him and thought she might kill him one day.
“I believe that’s kind of what justified, in his mind, why he did what he did,” Pagliari said.
On Sunday, a judge ordered Ramos to remain in juvenile detention for the next 21 days until a further court order, WFTV reported.
