Coffee and Crime Time: Alejandro Ripley

she's like a sickness in my brain a vision standing by the wind up pain she ripples through the blinds and leaves me in a daze it's in the way about a moon and [Music] never give it any time at all hello everybody welcome back to my channel and thank you for joining me for another coffee into crime tight if you're new to this channel and you like what you see please remember to subscribe share like and comment and if you're not new and you're already subscribed just make sure to like share and comment I always love talking to you guys in the comments and hearing what you think about these cases that we talked about also if you're on Twitter and or Instagram go ahead and follow me on instagram it's just Stephanie Harlow and on Twitter it's at staff underscore Harlow I've gotten a lot of comments on past videos talking about the light reflection on my glasses and I think that I have set it up now where that is no longer there I do have three lights in in this space and it's not a big space that I have so it's hard to find different ways to set them up but I think I've gotten it to a point where we should be good and there won't be light reflecting on my glasses but if that's not true let me know I think I'm gonna make like a little X with masking tape and put it on the ground where I have them now just in case they get moved so I know exactly where to put them back because I think we finally got it right today's not gonna be one of those light-hearted cases although I mean I'm how am I getting we don't have a lot of those light-hearted cases here sometimes we we can have fun with some things we can make funnel or eval oh and we can talk about you know crazy girls like Dalia Dippolito and we can have a little bit of fun with it but this is not going to be one of those this this case does involve a child and when I first heard about it I was absolutely disgusted I was absolutely outraged in the time that has passed between when I first heard about it and when I'm sitting here talking to you about it that that rage and that anger and that sadness hasn't really gone anywhere so without further ado here are the facts here's what we know on Thursday May 23rd at approximately 850 p.m. miami-dade Police Department uniform units were dispatched to the area of Southwest 158 Avenue and South West 88th Street they've gotten a call from a panicked mother telling them a truly unbelievable story she said she'd been driving westbound on 88th Street when an unknown make and model vehicle sideswiped her car causing her to crash she told the police that the driver was armed with a knife got out of his car and approached the driver's side door of her car and demanded that she give him drugs when she told him she didn't have any drugs he allegedly opened her door took her cell phone and tablet and then took her nine-year-old autistic son from the car as well and drove away in an unknown direction unknown make and model vehicle unknown Direction nondescript villain well not that nondescript right because initially she claimed it was two black men in the car but that was about all the description she had and now she's lost her phone her tablet and her son and of course the police got right on the case issuing an Amber Alert and bringing this woman Patricia Ripley to the miami-dade Police Department missing persons unit so she could be questioned and he or she provided what the police report refers to as conflicting statements the next morning at 7:50 a.m. miami-dade police were dispatched to a Miami golf course in reference to a report of a man floating in the canal upon their arrival it was determined that the man in the canal was not a man at all but nine year old Alejandra Ripley the very same boy that had been allegedly snatched from his mother's car the night before Alejandra Ripley was a little boy severely autistic and nonverbal for the most part sadly there's really not much else out there about him that I've been able to find which really does break my heart this child's life it seems has been boiled down to how it ended I want to know who he was I want to know his favorite ice cream was what stuffed animal he held a night when he was falling asleep I want to know which song he liked to hear in the car and what t-shirt he would wear until his parents made him change so they could finally wash it I want to know all the things that make a kid a kid but for now all we know is that his life was cut short senselessly and needlessly and his life wasn't taken by two black guys in an unknown make and model vehicle looking for drugs and iPads his life was taken by his own mother the woman who was supposed to protect him from the terrors of the world she had tried to drown her son earlier that day and failed but on her second attempt she succeeded Patricia Ripley was confronted with eyewitness testimony and surveillance footage that showed her walking along the edge of a canal by one O 3rd Avenue and Kendall Drive behind the Kendall Acres condominiums at about 7:30 p.m. on Thursday I'm going to play this video for you now but please be aware it is disturbing and heart-wrenching and soul-crushing all at the same time and if you want to skip it I have placed a time stamp in the description box I completely understand why you want to skip it but please also understand this is not the attempt she made where he ended up dying this was her first attempt but if you want to skip it there is hate there's a time stamp in the description box and I'll explain what happened after I played the video [Music] don't let the wheel [Music] take um you painted so in this video you can see Patricia and Alejandra walking along the edge of this canal and she's sort of pulling him along at one point she stops and she turns him towards her she speaks softly to him it seems and strokes his hair before pulling him along again and seconds later physically pushing him into the water before running away this was attempt 1 of 2 and the reason she failed to end his life at that moment was because there were people around who witnessed this here's what some of these people had to say quote we were over here and we overheard some screaming we were looking over to the canal and we saw the boys had popping in and out of the water another witness who preferred to remain anonymous said kids fall in the canal all the time we've lived here 25 years usually you grab them yank them out of the water and away you go the only odd thing was that she kind of started screaming and called his name and then turned and ran off screaming he was just sitting there and I tried to speak to him a couple times and he looked at me and that's when she returned with an older couple at first I thought they were together because that woman was giving it to her screaming what are you doing why did you leave your kid in there now the witness claims he didn't think anything nefarious was going on but after finding out that Alejandra was found dead the next morning he wishes Patricia Ripley had taken her opportunity to change her mind he said quote that was the sad part this is your moment to not do that she had a moment where she tried it and it didn't work maybe that's the time to collect yourself and go on a different path another witness who was sitting outside that day claims they thought it was very odd because Patricia ran away from her child in the water and only started screaming when she heard a woman screaming from a nearby condo a woman who had also seen Alejandro fall in the water that is when Patricia ran for help and returned with a couple who pulled Alejandro out you can see Patricia here drying him off with a towel and there's this look of terror on her face almost which then it would have seemed like fear from her son falling into a canal right if I'd been there and I saw this look on her face I would have thought this woman is truly just shook and terrified her son just fell in the canal and almost drowned and that's where that look is coming from now it seems more like desperation at a murder plot gone wrong and she didn't have second thoughts she didn't feel relief that her son was alive less than an hour later she tried again at a golf course ten minutes away from the condominiums and this time there was no one around to save alejandro we don't have surveillance footage from this attempt thank God but what we do know is after this happened after Patricia pushed her son into another canal at a nearby golf course she drove to a Home Depot and sat in her car for 20 minutes before calling the police another piece of evidence the police confronted her with once faced with the indisputable facts mounting up against her Patricia recanted her story about the kidnapping and admitted to having drowned her son stating that he was now in a better place from all of this I keep flashing back to that moment before her first attempt where she was walking with him talking to him tenderly stroking his hair what was she saying to him it's haunting me it haunts me was she saying mommy loves you mommy will always love you you're going to a better place was she saying goodbye I can only hope that she at least told him that she loved him the following Saturday Alejandro's autopsy was completed and it was reported that head trauma was present on the nine-year-old child Patricia's lawyer defense attorney Nelson Rodriguez Varela insists that the allegations made in the court document do not prove her guilt he said quote at this point the contents of the arrest affidavit are merely allegations any conclusion about the case grossly premature Alejandro's father Aldo also made a statement defending his wife it seemed saying quote 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 it's not real okay so the lawyer I get that's his job to defend his client whatever it takes right however I do struggle with all those statement we don't agree with whatever they say about my life it's not real according to the arrest warrant Patricia Ripley admitted to throwing her son into two different waterways she also said that it was becoming difficult to care for him as he got older and physically larger there is video footage and eyewitness testimony from her first attempt she made up a story about him getting kidnapped what about any of this is not real and you know me I like to reserve judgment until more details emerge but in this case really what else do we need to know I have no doubt that caring for a special-needs child is incredibly challenging more so during a pandemic when maybe resources normally available would be put on hold I understand that he was nonverbal and it was most likely difficult to communicate with him what I will never understand is a parent who feels their child is better off dead than alive what I will never accept is the belief that ending the life of your or any child is the only option and I don't understand how anyone especially this this child's own father can tell me it's not real when I see with my own eyes that it is real when she made a statement to the police admitting to it Alejandro may have been nonverbal but you can see in this video he was able to learn to grow it's left play have fun he was able to enjoy his life another parent from the center said that he was happy sweet and he meant the world to his parents good job other words yellow am i sitting here in front of you and telling you that Patricia and Aldo Ripley did not love their son Alejandro of course not I have no idea what was in their hearts it's impossible to know what is in somebody else's heart the best way to determine how somebody feels is to watch their actions from these actions I find it very difficult to swallow this whole idea or picture or narrative of this happy family who loved their life loved their son and there was no issues there was clearly issues and it's okay that there there were issues every family has issues especially during quarantine I mean we've all been stuck together for months and it's completely out of the ordinary from what our lives have been like in the past you can love spending time with your family but at the same time there's an escape sometimes if you need it there's a job you can go to or you can go to the gym and run on the treadmill or you can go to Starbucks and sit there and have a coffee for 30 minutes and peace and quiet the kids can go to school when they're sick of their parents and play with their friends what we've all been facing as a world these last couple of months is incredibly difficult and I don't even have kids with special needs and I have found myself struggling often many times these past couple months so I can't imagine and I really truly mean this when I say I can't imagine how hard it would be to be stuck in the house with a child that has special needs and you don't have their traditional therapy or classes where people are trained to help your kid I really can't imagine how difficult it is there's no way I could ever put myself in the position of Patricia or or Aldo Ripley however I do know and I can say 100% with certainty no matter how hard it was this wouldn't have been my solution ever and I can say that I can say how hard it was for them but I can say no matter how hard it was this isn't it this would never be what I would do the thaw would never have even crossed my mind many of my subscribers people who watch this channel have children and over our time together since you know I've started doing these videos I've come to know you guys just even from your comments and you tell me about your kids and I've come to know you and your families your children some of you out there have special needs children I see it in the comments I see you struggle I see how hard it's been but I see how much you love how you would go to the literal end of the world to do anything for your child so I'm sorry if this is an unpopular opinion I'm sorry if this makes me sound judgmental but I don't see any reason or justification for Patricia Ripley that her lawyer or her husband could pull out of their asses to make this justified or make it seem right or make it even forgivable or worthy of sympathy a death is a death killing someone is killing someone whatever your reasons were behind it whatever you think you had that justified you doing it it's always wrong and I'm literally just sitting here in front of this camera and my analytical brain is trying to go over the options for the legal defense what could they possibly say you know what what could they bring up if if Alejandro was a 30 year old man and Patricia was his wife or girlfriend I'm thinking maybe they're they're gonna say it's domestic abuse right but Alejandra was 9 he was a child he was innocent he was born with challenges and he was working to overcome them and although personally I don't have any children that have special needs I have worked with children that have special needs I have family members who have special needs somebody very close to me actually who who is on the spectrum and and now is in his 30s and he's doing great he's happy and he has friends and he has hobbies and he finds joy in life it's just now let's talk about the autopsy for a second not much was released besides the fact that he did drown and he he had head trauma present so let's ask ourselves about this head trauma what could it mean could it mean that Alejandro was being abused even before his mother threw him into a canal could the head trauma suggest that she had knocked him out possibly before throwing him in the water the second time she tried maybe learning from the first time that if he was conscious he might bring you know people there who would help him it's a good question and you know it's obviously not clear right now because there would be a way for the corner to be able to tell whether that head trauma was was new or or old and had existed you know before that day but we don't know yet either way obviously in either scenario it's bad could the head trauma be from something else maybe he hit his head on something while he was trying to keep himself afloat I I highly doubt that but that's just my opinion I think this does speak to a larger issue however this quarantine thing has been tough for all of us obviously and we're just trying to do our best but there are obviously people who it is harder for women and men who are in abusive relationships children who have abusive parents and can't go to school and report the abuse any longer keeping everyone inside the way that we have done and keeping everybody isolated and socially distanced while understandable to prevent a spread of the pandemic what it's also doing is lacking victims in a house with their abusers with no way to get help with no other people around who they can talk to and tell what's happening and I saw a couple people asking after all of this happened with Alejandro why didn't he just tell the people who rescued him the first time that his mother had pushed him in well remember Alejandro was nonverbal he was learning he was getting better but for the most part he was nonverbal as much as he would have wanted to tell them what happened he couldn't have he was literally voiceless and that's how I feel all of these other people victims of abuse are feeling right now they feel like they don't have a voice and they feel like they want to tell what's happening they want to say what's going on but they can't so when we first went into quarantine right we were told it was gonna be two weeks and then it turned into two months and now in some places it's still ongoing and as much as I think that would have been fine for two weeks when the quarantine and the the social distancing in the isolation went on longer there should have been something in place to help the people who needed help to offer resources in any way possible because you have a lot of kids like Alejandro now who have been going to special schools and have been receiving a special help help that there furthers their development but when they don't have that all of a sudden not only is it a complete shock to their system because they are used to their routine but now they're at home with parents who might have good intentions and might do their best but certainly aren't as adept at helping with his issues and helping him further his development as those who are trained to do so so there should have been something put in place even if it was like facetiming or zoom calls or even if it was you know bringing the teacher to each of these kids houses and talking to them through the window just to make sure that they still knew they had people there who were helping and wanted to help and people who are there for them and in places where we're still act down like here in New York we're still pretty much in a social distancing mode and we're not really allowed to go anywhere and things really still aren't even opening although phase two is supposed to be happening this coming week I think that if that's not happening in those areas then it needs to be because so often when things like this happen in the world the people we should be paying the most attention to the children people special needs people who need help in love and kindness and care they're often pushed to the side and forgotten about so Patricia Ripley is being charged with the death of her son and she's gonna go to trial where apparently her lawyer is going to reveal some earth-shattering things which will make us all say oh we get it now so we'll wait for that I just I can't get over um i'll do' defending his wife and saying it's not real like i understand your loyalties are probably ripped in half right now I can't even imagine being in that that situation where my husband who I love hurts my son who I love and and now I have to pick sides but I would have no problem picking a side and it's gonna be my child who's no longer with me and I'd even understand saying you know I don't understand how this happened Patricia was a good mother she's a good wife she loved alejandro but he's not saying that he's saying like it's not real what they're saying it's not real and I haven't really heard him say anything about his son and he was crying in court and when I saw the video I was devastated I was like oh my god this poor man like how horrible is this how horrible is he feeling right now to have lost his son and now know that his wife's most likely going to prison for the rest of her life how scary it is that your life can change like that overnight and then you could lose two people you love but I really haven't heard him talk out and say anything about Alejandra who he was how much he meant to him just that it's not real so at this point I can't even feel bad for Aldo until I hear him condemn the actions of his wife and it does make me wonder how much he did know about all of this I mean he was living in the same house with them he would have known that Alejandro was becoming more aggressive allegedly according to Patricia you know he was getting bigger and more physically strong and she had problems you know taking care of him and keeping him in check he would have known that it's it's her husband she would have vented to him even if he wasn't there and present for all the incidences I'm sure she would have vented to him how frustrated to us how hard it was becoming I just have this really bad nagging feeling that he possibly kind of knew it was getting to this point and it was coming to a head so this story really devastated me I just feel so badly for this child I hate to think what his last moments were because you know it's bad enough knowing that your life is coming to an end but being a child and knowing that it was your mother who was bringing your life to an end it's unacceptable thank you guys so much for being here with me let me know what you think about this I do want to hear from you guys especially the parents out there you have special needs children let me know what you think about this let me know if you if you do understand what Patricia was feeling but yet still don't understand going through with it I want to know how you feel because you know this is one of those situations where I don't have the experience of having a special-needs child and I can't really speak on that experience I can only speak on what I would do in in this situation and I just feel like I never I wouldn't I would never do that so let me know what you guys think as always thank you guys so much for being here with me I know this is a very tumultuous time for everyone right now it almost just feels like the anxiety in the sadness and the stress of everything going on in the world it's just never gonna end it's gonna be one thing after another and it does it does start to get you down I have felt very down these past couple of days and typically I'm a person who's incredibly good with compartmentalizing but I just I can't pull myself out of it and the way I'm trying to kind of distract myself is by continuing with business as usual talking about these true crime cases and hopefully distract you guys because right now I feel powerless I feel hopeless and I'm sure that there are many of you out there feeling that way too and it's okay to feel that way but if I can offer you 30 minutes of a reprieve from that if I can offer you 30 minutes of a break for your brain then then that is what I want to do you guys so much for being here thank you always to my patreon who really keep me going in more ways than one not just with their contributions but with their support and their kind words and they're funny senses of humor and their feedback of my videos because as you guys know or if you didn't know my patrons do get early access to videos and that's why sometimes I'll post a video and then people will be in the comments like why are these comments from two days ago because I record the video edit it post it unlisted on YouTube give it to my patreon to watch for a few days and then I post it for everyone else so it's honestly really good for me too because I get feedback on the video before I post it and they're always honest with me and upfront and if I said something stupid or it did something stupid they let me know sometimes I completely mess up and I give them unedited footage so when I record I have files for the recordings so it'll be like like this will be alejandro one two three four or five depending on how many like different files I have and then I'll put those files into Final Cut and make them into you know the whole finished product which is what what you see but sometimes when I when I export the movie I export the the actual finished product more than once so I'll do it like 1 1 2 3 I'll do it like three or four times sometimes just have those extra copies there in case I need to edit or do something else and then when I try to send them the video I will accidentally upload and send them Alejandra 1 but it's not Alejandra 1 the finished product it's Alejandra 1 the first clip that's completely unedited and raw and oh so I've done that twice and I'm always I'm always embarrassed because when no one's listening I have a little bit of a potty mouth ok I I do and when I get frustrated by things like my camera not working properly or my stupid lens not focusing in on me or my hair keeps getting stuck in my lipstick I'll just drop an f-bomb and thankfully it goes to them and not the world so you guys don't see how absolutely crude I can be when my hair is getting stuck in my lipstick that is very frustrating but thank you to my patrons thank you to all you guys out there watching like subscribe share comment remember to follow me on social media if you want to and I'll see you in the next one stay kind stay beautiful and stay safe I love you always [Music] [Music] [Music] TV girls it's it is get a new Sony [Music]

Channel: Stephanie Harlowe

Views: 227,017

Rating: 4.9228225 out of 5

Keywords: alejandro ripley, patricia ripley, aldo ripley, missing persons, true crime, stephanie harlowe

Id: g3q6LIsNX4g

Length: 27min 50sec (1670 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 03 2020