15-year-old charged with killing his mother in DeBary after fight over grades, deputies say

DEBARY, Fla. — A 15-year-old boy is facing a murder charge after deputies found his mother's body buried under a fire pit at a church early Saturday morning, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said Gregory Ramos confessed to killing his mother, 46-year-old Gail Cleavenger, by strangling her at the family’s home on Alicante Road in DeBary late Thursday night after the two fought over his grades.

Ramos then used a wheelbarrow to load her body into a van and bury her beneath a fire pit at the River City Church early Friday morning, deputies said.

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Sheriff’s officials said Ramos enlisted the help of two friends to stage a burglary at the home on Alicante. The friends, both juveniles, are also in custody and facing multiple criminal charges.

According to investigators, Ramos and his mother got into a fight when she asked him about a D he got in a class after he came home from a police explorers event at the Volusia County Fairgrounds on Thursday evening.

Investigators said Ramos ran to his room, coming out around midnight to go to his mother's room and strangle her with his hands until he believed she died.

Ramos went out back behind his house to retrieve a wheelbarrow, investigators said, before coming back inside and finding that his mother had not died.

He told investigators he then strangled her for about 30 minutes until she died, according to Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

Investigators said Ramos dragged his mother's body out of the house into the wheelbarrow before loading her into the family's car and driving toward the Daytona Beach area.

During his drive, he decided to head back home to retrieve a shovel and call two friends, who helped him stow electronics for the cover story that the house had been burglarized, investigators said.

He and his two friends then buried Gail Cleavenger's body and went to a Circle K to get a soda, according to Chitwood.

According to investigators, Ramos went to school the next day and called 911 to report a burglary after returning home. Investigators said he also told law enforcement his mom was missing and her van was still running in the driveway.

According to the sheriff’s office, details of his story weren't adding up to detectives, and Ramos later confessed to killing his mother and implicated his friends under questioning.

During questioning, Ramos told a detective that he'd wanted to be a homicide detective, according to investigators.

Deputies said they recovered the items removed from the home in the staged burglary, including a computer, a Playstation 4, a rifle and other items.

Deputies said they also recovered a shovel and broom used to bury Cleavenger and straighten up the scene around the fire pit.

Cox Media Group