Mom who admitted to drowning autistic son wants to keep confession out of trial

Attorneys for the West Kendall mother who could face the death penalty if convicted of drowning her 9-year-old autistic son requested that her confession be thrown out, saying she was sleep-deprived when detectives questioned her.

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Patricia Ripley, 51, appeared in court on Tuesday morning as her attorneys presented final arguments to bar jurors from hearing the confession that Ripley made when she was interrogated about the May 21, 2020, disappearance — and later murder — of her son Alejandro Ripley, who had severe autism and could not speak.

Defense attorneys argued that Ripley’s confession was coerced because Ripley hadn’t slept for 30 hours — and detectives appealed to her Christian faith as they pushed her to divulge what happened to Alejandro. Prosecutors said Ripley, who is a psychologist with a master’s degree, voluntarily waived her right against self-incrimination when she talked to investigators.

Ripley, who was in orange jail attire sitting in the jury box, looked down at the floor throughout the proceeding.

Ripley also received a new trial date: Jan. 25, 2027, according to an order penned by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez. Ripley is charged with a slew of offenses, including first-degree murder, kidnapping and child abuse.

On the day of Alejandro’s slaying, Ripley called 911, claiming that two Black men took the boy after running her off the road near a West Kendall Home Depot. Authorities issued an Amber Alert, and Alejandro’s body was found the following day in a canal near the Miccosukee Golf & Country Club, at Southwest 138th Court and 62nd Street.

Alejandro’s body was discovered wearing a blue Captain America T-shirt and diapers, about four miles from where the alleged abduction took place, according to police.

Alejandro was non-verbal and had attended Greater Heights Academy, a West Kendall school for special-needs children. The boy received tutoring at home, and investigators believe caring for him might have overwhelmed Ripley.

When pressed by detectives, Ripley admitted she concocted the story about the kidnapping, according to prosecutors. Ripley also said she led the boy to the canal where he was killed.

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She told detectives: “He’s going to be in a better place.”

READ MORE: ‘In a better place.’ Miami mother of drowned autistic boy admits leading him to canal, cops say

Earlier that day, Ripley was caught on camera pushing the boy into a canal. But Ripley’s plan was foiled when a good Samaritan rescued Alejandro from the water, prosecutors say.

About an hour later, Ripley — again — pushed Alejandro into the water, causing him to die by drowning, according to investigators.

Should confession be excluded?

Ripley’s confession, attorney Karen Gottlieb said, was involuntary. She urged Judge Tinkler Mendez to rewatch the hours-long interrogation video and consider that Ripley had been awake for more than 30 hours when the questioning began.

Ripley was grilled for hours, detectives tried to get Ripley to confess by making frequent references to God and Ripley’s Christian faith. Investigators, Gottlieb said, also withheld Ripley’s anxiety medication.

However, prosecutor Abbe Rifkin argued that Ripley had experienced insomnia for years and “had grown accustomed to functioning on less sleep” like many mothers. On the day of Alejandro’s slaying, she still chose to take him with her to run errands despite there being several adults in the home.

“I call it Susan Smith: The Sequel,” Rifkin said during the hearing.

In 1994, Susan Smith drowned her two young children by strapping them in a car and rolling it into a South Carolina lake. Smith, a white woman, initially told police that she had been carjacked by a Black man, sparking a frantic search that lasted 12 days. Smith was convicted and sentenced to life for murdering her sons.

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The judge said she will rule during the next hearing, which is set for June 23.