Video Emerges of Miami Mom's Alleged First Attempt to Drown Autistic Son

Horrifying video has emerged of what police say is the moment a Miami mother attempted to drown her nine-year-old son.

Patricia Ripley was charged on Saturday with first-degree murder and attempted premeditated murder, accused of two attempts on his life in the space of an hour — the second one successful.

Security footage from Kendall Acres Condominium complex, obtained by Univision, appears to show the moment she led Alejandro Ripley, who was autistic and non-verbal, to a canal before seeming to push him in.

The clip shows a woman leading a child by the hand along the water's edge, before she stops to caress his hair.

Holding him by the arm, she then walks him toward the water before appearing to shove him in and running off.

According to police, residents heard the commotion and rushed over to help, rescuing Alejandro from the water. Because he was non-verbal, he could not explain what had just happened.

The footage shows a resident running over to help pull the child out of the water.

But according to investigators, she then drove to another canal at a nearby gold course and pushed him in a second time less than an hour later; this time there was no-one to rescue him.

Ripley then called police to report her son had been abducted by two black men.

She concocted a story in which she was forced off the road, held at knifepoint while the men demanded drugs, before stealing her cellphone and kidnapping Alejandro.

An Amber Alert was issued, but her story soon fell apart when CCTV failed to show any abduction — but did appear to show her pushing him into the water.

Alejandro's body, still wearing the Captain America T-shirt his mother had described to police, was found floating in the lake on Friday morning.

Law enforcement sources told CBS4 that during her interview she admitted to thinking about killing her son for quite some time, because the older he got, the more difficult he was to control physically.

Outside a bond court hearing on Saturday, the boy's father Aldo Ripley tearfully defended his wife.

"The only thing I’ll say is that we love our life, we love Alejandro, and we don't agree with whatever they say about my wife," he said, per WSVN. "It's not real."

Alejandro's older brother meanwhile posted a message on Instagram that read, in part: "For those who know my family, brother, mother, father, you guys know. Thank you and God bless."

The family's lawyer Nelson Rodriguez-Varela said Patricia should be given the opportunity "to vindicate her good name" and asked the public to reserve judgment for when the complete story emerged.

"There is obviously a great deal of support for her," he said. "By all accounts, she has been an excellent mother, an excellent person, a great family as you can see from the people who are here."

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