UPDATE:
The 45-year-old Miami mother accused of drowning her son in a canal made her first court appearance Saturday.
Patricia Ripley faced a judge on charges of murder and premeditated attempted murder for the death of her son, Alejandro Ripley, whose body was found floating in a SW Miami canal Friday.
“We love Alejandro and I don’t agree with whatever they’ve said about my wife,” said Aldo Ripley, the child’s father and Patricia Ripley’s husband.
Presiding Judge Oscar Rodriguez Fonts in Miami-Dade County’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit court of Florida said there was “probable cause” to keep Ripley in jail, handing down an order of no bond on Count 1, which is a charge of murder in the first degree, and $100,000 bond for Count 2, or a pre-meditated attempted murder in the first degree.
She remains behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correction Center in Miami.
Police allege that Ripley had pushed her son into another canal an hour before a second attempt.
Witness statements and surveillance footage show video of a woman who police believe is Ripley pushing the boy into a canal at the Kendall Acres Condominium complex at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Neighbors there were able to save the nine-year-old from drowning. Police say the mother found another canal at the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club an hour later, where she again led Alejandro into the water.
His body was found floating in the canal at 7:50 a.m. Friday.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
The mother of a 9-year-old boy with autism is being accused of killing him and she is now facing first-degree murder, and attempted premeditated murder charges.
An AMBER Alert was issued after the mother, Patricia Ripley, 47, initially told police that her 9-year-old son, Alejandro Ripley, was abducted from the parking lot of a Southwest Miami-Dade Home Depot just before 9 p.m., Thursday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced the child’s death Friday morning. Police say his body was found in “one of the waterways that are located off the golf course” at the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club in the Kendale Lakes area a few miles from where Alejandro was last seen.
Patricia Ripley was arrested Saturday morning around 3 a.m., and is being charged with first-degree murder for the death of her autistic son Alejandro Ripley.
At a news conference on Friday police said they were considering all options in the investigation.
“We’re not ruling out foul play, but it may not be so we’ll see,” said Detective Chris Thomas of the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Ripley is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade without bond.
Authorities are urging anyone with more information to contact the Miami-Dade Police Department at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or (866) 471-8477.
9-year-old Autistic Boy Found Dead after Abduction in Miami Dade