Defense wants confession tossed in case of Miami-Dade mother accused of killing autistic son

MIAMI — After hours of questioning, prosecutors say Patricia Ripley confessed to killing her son, saying “he was in a better place.” But her defense team said Tuesday that a jury should never hear that confession, because she was sleep deprived and coerced.

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Ripley, then 45, was arrested in 2020 after her son, Alejandro, was found lifeless in a southwest Miami-Dade canal. The 9-year-old was non verbal and diagnosed with autism.

Investigators say Ripley, now 51, is the woman seen on video pushing the boy into the water ― an attempt that was interrupted, allegedly, when witnesses saw the boy splashing.

“The defendant made a story that the victim loved the water and fell in,” Assistant State Attorney Abbe Rifkin said.

Ripley is accused of finding a different canal and doing it again, later concocting a story about a robbery and abduction. The state says she confessed only after she was confronted with surveillance video.

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The judge is considering a motion to suppress Ripley’s statements. The motion states that the way in which she was questioned by police, leading to that confession, was improper, through the use of implied promises, threats, and the exploitation of Ripley’s Christian beliefs.

“He asked Ms. Ripley if she believed in Jesus,” Ripley’s attorney, Karen Gottlieb, said. “And then he advises her that ‘right now she needs to pray’ because he doesn’t believe anything she says.”

Rifkin agreed with the judge’s characterization that the confession is “extraordinarily important” to the state’s case.

“I think I have a circumstantial case without the statement,” she said.

The judge said she would issue a written ruling by June 23. The trial is set for January 2027.

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Ripley could be sentenced to death if convicted.