"The death of a child is tragic; the killing of a child is horrific," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle at a press conference on May 24th, 2020, regarding the killing of 9-year-old Alejandro Ripley allegedly by his own mother.
Patricia Ripley is presently charged with First Degree Premeditated Murder and Attempted First Degree Murder of her autistic son who was nonverbal. She is being held in jail without bond.
"This arrest was the result of the incredibly thorough work of investigators from the Miami-Dade Police Department and my prosecutor, Senior Trial Counsel Gail Levine, who together combed the community diligently for witnesses and evidence. They deserve the appreciation of all Miami-Dade County residents."
The circumstances regarding the death and the story surrounding the crime horrified a community who still remembers the heart wrenching deaths of Lazaro Figueroa (Baby Lollipops) and Nubia Barahona.
On the evening of Thursday, May 23rd, Patricia Ripley contacted Miami- Dade County Police and reported that she had been driving with her son when she noticed that they were being followed by two black males in a light blue car. Ripley said that the car tried to side-swipe her vehicle and forced her to veer off the road before blocking her.
She said that one of the men came to her window with a knife and demanded drugs. Ripley stated that she told him she didn't have any drugs and that he responded by stealing her phone, kidnapping her son, and driving away.
Police found Alejandro's lifeless body Friday morning floating in a canal in the area of S.W. 62nd Street and 138th Court. The child was wearing his blue Captain America t-shirt and a diaper.
But Ripley's story and the evidence gathered in the case did not match up. Surveillance video from hours earlier and witness testimony told an entirely different story that contradicted Ripley's story and exposed that she is the real alleged perpetrator of this horrific crime.
An apartment complex's surveillance video shows Ripley pushing Alejandro into a canal in the area of S.W.103rd Avenue and Kendall Drive at approximately 7:30 pm. Nearby residents heard yelling and rescued him. Because Alejandro was nonverbal, he could not tell his rescuers what had truly occurred. Over an hour later, Patricia Ripley drove her son to yet another canal, but this time there was no one to save him.
"What is important now is to find out what really happened to Alejandro because that is what he deserves," said State Attorney Fernandez Rundle. "As prosecutors, we are bound by the law and due process. My office has and will continue to seek the truth and justice for all victims of crimes, especially the most vulnerable."
