A woman who pushed her dead three-year-old son on a playground swing for up to a day before she was found would never have done anything intentionally to harm her child, the woman's mother claims.
Vontasha Simms says she believes her 24-year-old daughter, Romechia, suffered a mental breakdown before officers discovered her in the playground at Wills Memorial Park in La Plata, about 55 kilometres south of Washington DC, on Friday.
Police have not yet determined the exact cause of her son Ji'Aire Lee's death, but say there were no obvious signs of trauma on the boy's body, said Diane Richardson, from the Charles County Sheriff's Office.
One witness told police that she found it strange that the woman had been pushing the child for an unusually long period of time, possibly since the day before.
When officers arrived they found Romechia still pushing the child in the swing, and they realised immediately that Ji'Aire was dead.
Vontasha Simms told television station WUSA9 that her daughter had no permanent place to live and had been staying at a nearby hotel, and struggling with the pressure of raising her son in such a situation.
She said her daughter had been diagnosed with a mental illness about three months ago and had been seeking help.
"I don't want people to look down upon her. I want us to use the situation as an opportunity to grow," Vontasha told WUSA9.
"If you suffer from mental health issues you need help. Don't be afraid to reach out there to somebody.
"[Romechia] would never harm my grandson in any type of way. You know, I just believe she had some type of mental illness, some type of mental breakdown that came upon her where she wasn't able to get herself out of that situation."
A GoFundMe page set up to help with the cost of Ji'Aire's funeral claims there had been a recent custody battle between his parents.
Police would not comment on the cause of the boy's death.
"There are no obvious signs of trauma, but he is deceased and our detectives are working around the clock trying to put information together to try to answer the question as to how and why this child died," Ms Richardson said.
Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by phoning Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800.
Fairfax Media
