{"id":268602,"date":"2026-05-12T22:10:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268602\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:10:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:10:06","slug":"defense-wants-confession-tossed-in-case-of-miami-dade-mother-accused-of-killing-autistic-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268602\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense wants confession tossed in case of Miami-Dade mother accused of killing autistic son"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">MIAMI \u2014 After hours of questioning, prosecutors say <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/topic\/Patricia_Ripley\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/topic\/Patricia_Ripley\/\">Patricia Ripley<\/a> confessed to killing her son, saying \u201che was in a better place.\u201d But her defense team said Tuesday that a jury should never hear that confession, because she was sleep deprived and coerced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/espanol\/2026\/05\/12\/defensa-busca-excluir-confesion-en-caso-de-madre-de-miami-dade-acusada-de-matar-a-su-hijo-autista\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/espanol\/2026\/05\/12\/defensa-busca-excluir-confesion-en-caso-de-madre-de-miami-dade-acusada-de-matar-a-su-hijo-autista\/\">Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Ripley, then 45, was arrested in 2020 after her son, Alejandro, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/local\/2020\/06\/12\/mother-accused-of-drowning-autistic-son-enters-plea-of-not-guilty\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/local\/2020\/06\/12\/mother-accused-of-drowning-autistic-son-enters-plea-of-not-guilty\/\">found lifeless<\/a> in a southwest Miami-Dade canal. The 9-year-old was non verbal and diagnosed with autism. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Investigators say Ripley, now 51, is the woman seen on video pushing the boy into the water \u2015 an attempt that was interrupted, allegedly, when witnesses saw the boy splashing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThe defendant made a story that the victim loved the water and fell in,\u201d Assistant State Attorney Abbe Rifkin said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">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. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The judge is considering a motion to suppress Ripley\u2019s 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\u2019s Christian beliefs. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cHe asked Ms. Ripley if she believed in Jesus,\u201d Ripley\u2019s attorney, Karen Gottlieb, said. \u201cAnd then he advises her that \u2018right now she needs to pray\u2019 because he doesn\u2019t believe anything she says.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Rifkin agreed with the judge\u2019s characterization that the confession is \u201cextraordinarily important\u201d to the state\u2019s case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI think I have a circumstantial case without the statement,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The judge said she would issue a written ruling by June 23. The trial is set for January 2027. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Ripley <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/local\/2020\/10\/29\/prosecutors-will-pursue-death-penalty-for-mother-accused-in-murder-of-autistic-son\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/local\/2020\/10\/29\/prosecutors-will-pursue-death-penalty-for-mother-accused-in-murder-of-autistic-son\/\">could be sentenced to death<\/a> if convicted. <\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body__copyright\">Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 After hours of questioning, prosecutors say Patricia Ripley confessed to killing her son, saying \u201che was&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-268602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}