The mum found pushing her dead son on a swing tells her devastating story.

Romechia Simms can hardly remember what she refers to as “the incident”.

On May 22, Simms was found in a Maryland park in the US pushing her dead three-year-old son Ji’Aire Donnell Lee on a swing. He’d been dead for hours and was later found to have died of hypothermia.

She was initially arrested and charged with manslaughter, child abuse and neglect of a minor however was cleared of all charges in February with a judge ruling that she’s not criminally responsible because she suffers from schizophrenia.

The devastated mum has shared her story with The Washington Post, explaining that as she pushed Ji’Aire on the swing, voices kept telling her help was coming and to keep on pushing.

She says the death of her son will haunt her forever.

“I still feel him,” she told the Post. “Some days are worse than others … I just try to keep family and friends around me that love me and support me. But there are times I feel really down and depressed. I think it’s going to be that way for a while.”

She visits her son’s grave often, bringing flowers, little toys and polishing the grave marker. She still calls him “Babee”.

Simms knows people will still judge her for her actions and to some she'll always be the mum who killed her child. “People will judge me,” she says. “For what happened. Someone will point a finger and say, ‘There is that mother who . . . ’ ”

She'll remain free as long as she remains on medication and attends ongoing therapy. Her family is doing their best to help her to cope but she is still hanging onto all of her son's clothes and toys and says she "will never get over losing [her] son." At only 25-years-of-age her whole life stretches before her and she's working out how best to live.

Music helps, as does keeping a journal. Eventually she'd like to study to become a nurse, but not yet. She's not ready. For now she finds comfort in memories of her beautiful little boy.

“Sometimes I find myself doing weird things,” she shared. “Like I will grab his socks and just hold onto his socks. Or I will grab one of his toy balls and hold onto his ball — anything that helps me to feel close — that I know was his.”

Schizophrenia is an illness, a medical condition. It affects the normal functioning of the brain, interfering with a person’s ability to think, feel and act. Some people do recover completely and, with time, most find their symptoms improve. However, for many, it is a prolonged illness which can involve years of distressing symptoms and disability. Those suffering from schizophrenia can experience psychosis in the form of confused thinking, delusions and hallucinations.

If you or someone you know is suffering from a mental illness please contact SANE Australia or Lifeline on 13 11 14.