I was watching true crime videos and I watched a video of Stephanie Harlowe talking about the case (I’ll link at the end) and I noticed it hadn’t been reported on as much as other cases that have blown up in the media recently. So this is me going through the facts of the case online and writing it down in a simple blog and why it is important that story gets as much attention. I mean no disrespect to anyone that I talk about in the blog.
So lets start from the beginning; Alejandro Ripley was a 9 year old autistic child who was pre-verbal. On Thursday the 21st May 2020 at night his mother Patricia Ripley rang 911 to report that two black guys had approached her and her son in the car and started to ask for drugs. She then alleged that when she said he had no drugs the men took her son, her cell phone and a tablet. First things first it is so Susan Smith like its bad, get your own cover story and blaming it on two black guys not cool Patricia not cool. Anyway the next day the body got found in a canal. The police were suspicious of Patricia as she kept giving conflicting statements about the kidnapping.
Then CCTV was discovered of Patricia Ripley walking along a canal with her son and she held his hand as they walked along she then faced him towards the water and said something to him and stroked his hair. Before pushing him into the canal and ran away. After this two people came and rescued him but didn’t see her push him. She helped towel him down and they went to another canal this one wasn’t as luck he was not rescued and he died, the autopsy showed that there was head injury but I think chances are its from the first push in a canal. Then the mum sat in her car for a bit before calling the police about the 2 imaginary black men that stole her child, cell phone and a tablet.
The police confronted Patricia with the evidence against her and she admitted to it but attempted to justify it by saying that he was going to a better place and as he grew up she was struggling with his behavior. She arrested for first degree murder with no bond. There were many different routes she could have gone in. She could have asked for help with behavior management, she could have got herself admitted for mental health issues or she could have looked online and been shown she wasn’t alone in her struggles. I think she was wrong, she was so wrong to kill her child and then blame it on the autism. Also if it was because she was at the end of her tether and she thought the only way to be free would be to kill her son. Why did she choose to drown her child, she could have found a less painful way to kill him but no she picked the scariest way to die. The worst thing about is he was pre-verbal he couldn’t ask for help, he couldn’t escape and he probably wanted the comfort from his mum the one attempting to kill him. Its so sad and I am surprised I didn’t hear about it sooner.
I will be following this case as it goes along as it will go to trial and to be honest I think she could get life in prison without possibility of parole or a long time on death row, she deserve to sit and suffer for what she did. I personally don’t believe he was killed because he was a problem with his behavior. If it was a moment of madness she would have come to her senses when she failed the first time and she wouldn’t have had the cover story she would have admitted to what happened. Also the fact it mirrors the Susan Smith case shows a lot.
It’s sad that this happened but what is sad that it isn’t as well known as the most recent stuff that has happened (George Floyd). Obviously a black man being killed by the police in America is terrible and I will not take away from that. However because of that I have seen the likes of Stephen Lawrence being mentioned. So we will hear about George Floyd everywhere and we’ll hear about a murder that happened in the early 90’s before we hear about a child being murdered by his mothers. Then some people are reporting it basing it on the fact that the mum blamed 2 black men rather than the fact that; A MOTHER MURDERED HER CHILD AND TRIED TO BLAME IT ON HIS AUTISM! All murders and killings should matter and reported on regardless of what is going on. I am not in anyway saying we shouldn’t talk about George Floyd and Stephen Lawrence or any murder ever but come on if I hadn’t have watched Stephanie’s video I wouldn’t have known this case. I got removed from a true crime podcast Facebook fan page for hate speech for having a differing opinion on protests, taking me not agreeing with the protests that are breaking lock down as me being racist and for police brutality but I am not. I was appalled with the death of George Floyd and I have ranted and raved about the death Stephen Lawrence so how does that make me a racist, it doesn’t it’s stupid. An autistic child died by the hand of their parent and it has barely been spoken about. One youtuber has spoken about it. Not even the American Autistic channel have said anything just barely noticed it. Even the Autistic channel that is in Florida didn’t mention it just did a BLM post.
Anyway I am not doing this blog to offend anyone to upset anyone. I am just effected by the case because it’s close to home. I am an autistic adult, I have worked with severely autistic children who were pre-verbal and the idea of any of them coming to harm would deeply upset me. I just want to give Alejandro Ripley case some exposure to my readers. I believe that all cases deserve to put out there
Sources
Alejandro Ripley: 9-year-old boy pushed in canal by his own mother had signs of head trauma [Report]
The awesome Youtuber who informed me of the case. Follow her and watch her video she awesome!
Rosebud 
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