Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, 50, who was accused of strangling her son in Horsham on Wednesday, was extradited from the Jersey Shore to Montgomery County on Friday afternoon to face first-degree murder charges.

6ABC News reported that she appeared in a New Jersey courtroom earlier on Friday following her arrest at the shore.

Police found her outside her family’s beach house in Wildwood Crest after her SUV was found partially submerged in the ocean in Cape May.

Documents show DiRienzo-Whitehead told police she didn’t want her son Matthew to grow up with her family’s financial problems, so she strangled him with her husband’s belt as he slept.

She is charged with first-degree murder. Her defense attorney said she does not deny killing her son and is suffering from mental illness.

For additional coverage, you can read 6ABC’s article here, or you can watch this video:

Photos courtesy of Montgomery County District Attorney and 6ABC