Associated Press
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Court documents show that a Pennsylvania woman accused of killing her 20-month-old son by pushing him off a bridge into a river will pursue an insanity or mental health defense at trial.
Twenty-year-old Johnesha Perry is charged with criminal homicide and child endangerment in the May death of Zymeir Perry. Lehigh County prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty if she is convicted of first-degree murder.
The (Allentown) Morning Call reports that defense attorneys said in a recent motion that their client has a long history of mental illness.
Authorities say Perry pushed the boy off Allentown’s Hamilton Street Bridge into the Lehigh River before jumping in herself. The boy was pulled out of the water about 700 yards downstream but died six days later.