(RNN) - An argument about poor grades in school led a 15-year-old Florida boy to strangle his mother to death shortly after midnight Friday morning.
Deputies with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said Gregory Logan Ramos confessed to the crime after originally trying to trick investigators into thinking his home had been burglarized while he was in school.
“As the investigation began, it became quite apparent that this was not an act of random violence, that in fact the 15-year-old probably had killed his mother,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
Investigators said Ramos used a wheelbarrow to load the body of 46-year-old Gail Cleavenger into her van and drive her to the River City Church where he buried her under a fire pit.
Ramos went to school the next morning and came home early.
“And then made his, in his own words, a Grammy-winning phone call to 911 to talk about this horrible incident that didn’t really occur,” Chitwood explained.
He confessed to staging the burglary with the help of two friends. Deputies also have Dylan Ceglarek and Brian Porras, both 17, in custody and they are facing several criminal charges.
Investigators say the trio removed computers, a PlayStation 4, a rifle and other items that were later discovered dumped in another part of DeBary, FL.
The father was on a business trip in Seattle, WA, during the incident. Deputies were at the airport waiting to take the him to the police station to explain what happened.
He was on the phone with the mother during the spat about grades. After they hung up, Cleavenger went to sleep.
Investigators say Ramos woke her up and strangled her around 12:30 a.m. Authorities plan on exhuming her remains from fire pit grave on Saturday.
“All our hearts break for this family. The deputies and detectives who worked through the night and into the morning gave this case absolutely everything they had, and I hope the family knows that Gail has all of us fighting for justice for her,” Chitwood said. “God bless Gail Cleavenger and all who knew and loved her."
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