Mom charged with murder after ‘faking severely autistic son’s abduction and drowning him in a canal’
A MOM who claimed her autistic son had been abducted in an ambush has admitted she led him into a canal and that "he was going to a better place".
Patricia Ripley, 47, has been charged with first degree murder of nine-year-old Alejandro Ripley after she initially told police two unknown men cut her off in traffic on Thursday night in Miami before kidnapping her son.
As previously reported, Ripley claimed one of the robbers, whom she described as two black men, walked up to her and demanded drugs.
When she said she did not have any, she claimed they grabbed severely autistic Alejandro and her cellphone and fled.
A massive search ensued but came to a halt 12 hours later when a witness called police about a child's body floating in a canal on the golf course at the MIccosukee Golf & Country Club about four miles from where the alleged abduction took place
The body was later identified as the missing boy.
But cops now say Ripley admitted to them that she was to blame for the child’s death.
This came after police confronted her with evidence that she had been at the golf course.
Video surveillance footage that showed her pushing the boy "into the canal", according to the police report.
Witnesses also placed her at the scene.
A source also told the Miami Herald a security camera at a Home Depot near where the alleged abduction took place showed Ripley sitting in her car alone — without Alejandro — 20 minutes before she called police at 8.47 pm.
Yet police said they arrived within two minutes.
Cops also found no one matching the man’s description or their car.
Recanting her story, police said Ripley admitted that at about 8.30 p.m she had led her son into the canal where he drowned, stating "he’s going to be in a better place".
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Alejandro had been diagnosed on the autism spectrum and was non-verbal and attended a special needs school.
Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted: "Heartbroken over this innocent boy’s unfathomable death,.
"I didn’t have the chance to meet Alejandro, but his sweet smile has left an indelible impression. Praying that this case will soon be solved and those responsible brought to justice."
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