Horrifying video shows mom allegedly pushing autistic son into canal. After a witness rescued him, police say she drove him to another body of water to drown him.

Shocking surveillance video reportedly shows a mother pushing her autistic son into a Miami canal, in what police are saying was her first attempt to murder him.

Patricia Ripley, 45, faces charges of first-degree murder and first-degree premeditated attempted murder following the death of her 9-year-old son, Alejandro Ripley, whose body was found floating in a canal on Friday morning.

The video, obtained by Univision, reportedly shows Ripley leisurely walking with the child near West Kendall canal, looking around and caressing his head before forcefully shoving him into the water and running off.

Roughly 20 seconds later, she returns onto the screen with a bystander who apparently saw Alejandro drowning and came to rescue him.

Exclusiva: El video que muestra cómo una madre, acusada de asesinato, lanzó a su hijo a un canalyoutu.be

According to the Miami Herald, police believe that the video shows Ripley's first, but thwarted, attempted murder, which took place Thursday evening. Sadly, an hour later, Ripley allegedly led Alejandro into another canal to drown him, but this time no one was around to save him.

Ripley had reportedly become overwhelmed in caring for her son, who suffered from severe autism and was unable to speak. She admitted to investigators that she had thought about killing him for quite some time, WBFS-TV reported.

Ripley had previously called police reporting a kidnapping Thursday, saying two unknown black males had crashed into her car and abducted Alejandro. But following interrogation and the release of the video, Ripley admitted that she had made up the kidnapping story, according to an arrest report seen by the Miami Herald.

Before the video was released, Ripley's family expressed support for the married mother of two.

"We love Alejandro and we don't agree about whatever they said about my wife," Ripley's husband, Aldo, told reporters through tears following a court hearing Saturday. "It's not real."

Attorneys plan to use the video footage, which was taken from a nearby apartment complex, as key evidence in the upcoming trial.