Teen accused of killing mom, burying body

ORANGE CITY, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - Classes went on as usual at Volusia County’s University High School, but there were three students who didn't make it to class.

Suspect Gregory Ramos, 15, was one of them.  He was in court Sunday, along with his friends -- and alleged accomplices -- Dylan Ceglarek and Brian Porras. Deputies say they helped him cover up the crime, after Ramos strangled his mother to death.

“I do have an order to take juvenile into custody on a charge of first degree, premeditated murder - a capital felony,” the judge said.

Volusia County schools officials put extra counselors on campus in case students there needed someone to talk to. Many parents, like Pam Ruscoe, were stunned.

“Oh, it does surprise me,” Ruscoe said, “it scares me, what the world is turning into.”

A world where Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood says Ramos murdered his mother in their house after an argument over him getting bad grades. 

“Probably around midnight he left his room and went into his mother's room, where he proceeded to strangle her. Thought she was dead. He went into the back of the house to get a wheelbarrow to remove her body and realized she wasn't dead,” Chitwood said, “so he went back to strangle her again.”

Chitwood said the three teens then buried her in a shallow grave. The judge said Ramos will stay behind bars for now. Ceglarek and Porras' lawyers successfully argued for them to stay at home during the trial.

“Can you blame the kids?” asked Maribel Moreno, a University High School parent, “Can you blame what they look at? The movies, the video games, the pressure they have at school? It's very sad. This world his horrible.

Extra school counselors were also on hand at River Springs middle school. They say University High School's principal also sent out messages about the killing to students and parents.