Alejandro Ripley: Chilling video shows mom pushing autistic son into Miami canal in first attempt to kill him
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLORIDA: Disturbing footage of a Florida's mother's first unsuccessful attempt at killing her nine-year-old autistic, non-verbal son captured the moment she pushed him into a canal and walked away. We had previously reported how 45-year-old Patricia Ripley made national headlines after her son, Alejandro, was found dead in a canal at the Miccosukee Golf & Country Club on Friday, May 22.
While she initially claimed that he had been abducted by men who were looking to score drugs, inconsistencies in her stories led police to investigate her as a suspect and learn she lied about the entire incident. It emerged that she had pushed him into the canal herself and admitted the same to detectives, claiming "he's going to be in a better place."
Soon after, authorities revealed that she had pushed Alejandro into another canal at the Kendall Acres Condominium complex a few hours before her successful attempt. The young boy had been rescued by neighbors who had rushed to the scene. In surveillance footage obtained by Univision, Ripley can be seen walking with the nine-year-old at the complex and stroking his head before appearing to push him into the water. She then runs away from the scene, stealing a few glances backward before going out of the frame. She returns a few minutes later with neighbors who rescue the boy.
Speaking about the case, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle confirmed the mother had tried to drown the boy at Kendall Acres before driving him to another canal, where she ultimately succeeded in killing him. "Unfortunately when she took him to the second canal, there was no one there," she said. "She tried it once, and people rescued him. He was alive. He could have stayed alive. She intended, from all the facts of the case, to kill him."
Rundle also highlighted that, because Alejandro was non-verbal, he could not tell his initial rescuers that it was his mother who had pushed him into the water. "He can't say anything to his rescuers," he said. "We talk about children being voiceless. This is another level of voicelessness. He was incapable of saying that 'mommy put me in the water.'"
Ripley has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted premeditated murder in connection to her son's death and is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond. Rundle said they would be conducting an autopsy on Alejandro to determine if he had suffered any other injuries or if he had anything toxic in his system. She added that no decision had been made yet on whether they would be seeking the death penalty.
Ripley's lawyer, Nelson Rodriguez-Varela, said he was gathering a legal team "so she [Patricia] has an opportunity to vindicate her good name" and pleaded with the public to reserve their judgment about her until more information had been revealed. "There is obviously a great deal of support for her," he said. "By all accounts, she has been an excellent mother, an excellent person, a great family as you can see from the people who are here."
The 45-year-old does appear to retain the support of her husband, Aldo Ripley, who broke down following a bond hearing on Saturday, May 23, but still defended her against her portrayal in the media. "We love Alejandro, and we got aggrieved with whatever they said about my wife. It's not real," he told 7News. "I don’t agree with whatever they’ve said about my wife. The only thing I’ll say is that we love our life."