Cops: Mom kissed baby before tossing him off bridge to death


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ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A woman gave her 1-year-old son a kiss before shoving him off a bridge into a river and jumping in after him, authorities said Monday as they announced she was being charged with homicide.

Johnesha Monae Perry, 19, is charged with killing Zymeir Perry, of Allentown, who died Saturday, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said.

Police said Perry told them she intended to kill her son when she threw him off the Hamilton Street Bridge in Allentown.

Authorities did not reveal a potential motive. Her public defender declined to comment.

The child fell more than 50 feet into the Lehigh River. Police pulled him out about 700 yards downstream, but he had no pulse. The child "appeared to be engorged with water and had a swollen face," according to court documents.

Emergency personnel eventually revived him, but he was declared brain dead six days later and removed from life support.

An autopsy performed Monday found he died from complications of blunt force trauma and drowning.

Perry jumped in after pushing him over the railing, according to court documents. She was found along the riverbank and taken to a hospital, then to jail, where she is being held without bail.

Zymeir's organs have been donated, according to Martin.

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