Ashburn Psychology Firm Cited in Infant Death Case

Weeks after a Manassas City father was arrested and charged with first degree murder in the drowning death of his infant son, the child's mother has filed suit against the Ashburn psychology firm whose assessment authorized the man's visits with his son — ultimately allowing for the child's death, she alleges.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday night Hera McLeod, the mother of 16-month-old Prince McLeod Rams, is filing suit against Ashburn Psychological services and specifically a psychologist who works there, saying a report that cleared the mental health of the boy's father, Joaquin Rams, led to a court ruling that allowed Rams to visit unsupervised with his son.

Patch reported earlier this month that Rams, 40, of the City of Manassas, allegedly took out life insurance policies on the boy "and falsely claimed the tot's mother was dead," according to court documents filed by a Manassas City Police detective. 

The Ashburn firm did not offer a comment to the Post, it reported.

For the full Post story, click here.

On its website, the firm calls itself "the premier clinical psychology and psychiatry practice in Loudoun County," also serving other areas of Northern Virginia from Great Falls to Fairfax and Middleburg.  

The firm's director, Michael Oberschneider, writes a blog for Ashburn Patch. 

Rams, now  first gave police a different account of what happened to his son in October.

Rams claimed his son had a seizure before he was rushed to a Fairfax County hospital (though Prince did have a history of seizures, the Washington Post has reported).

Prince McLeod Rams died the next day, and police arrested Rams and charged him in the murder.

Read more about the case here. 

"Prince only survived three visits before on the fourth visit coming home brain dead and cold. Every single time I said goodbye to my son before handing him over to Luc, my gut would scream bloody hell. My instincts at this time told me to run," McLeod wrote in a recent post on her blog Cappuccino Queen.  

Manassas Father Charged in Boy's Drowning

Warrant: Father Took Out Life Insurance Policies Before Tot's Death

Patch editor Mary Stachyra reported for this story.