An Allentown woman has been charged with homicide in the death of her 20-month-old son, whom she had thrown off a city bridge.

Johnesha Monae Perry, 19, of 208 N. Hall St., Allentown, was charged today with criminal homicide, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor of the first degree.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Allentown detectives, on May 3, Perry had her son, Zymeir Perry, in a stroller and walked

from her residence to the Hamilton Street Bridge over the Lehigh River. When she got to the middle of the bridge, Perry took the child out of the stroller and held him on the railing of the bridge. She kissed him and then pushed him over the edge. The child fell about 52 feet into the river. Perry then jumped into the river and later was found along the riverbank.

Allentown police officers rescued the child, who was not breathing, from the river. The child "appeared to be engorged with water and had a swollen face."

Officers could not detect a pulse or heartbeat. The officers performed CPR, but no vital signs could be established. The child was taken by emergency medical personnel to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township, where medical staff administered resuscitative medications. A pulse and blood pressure returned, but the child had to be placed on life support.

Police interviewed witnesses and Perry that day. Perry stated that she threw her son off the bridge and that she intended to kill him.

Perry, who had been hospitalized, initially was charged with attempted homicide, child endangerment and aggravated assault, and bail was set at $100,000. Perry was taken to Lehigh County Jail on May 7, 2015, on those charges after she was released from the hospital.

There is no bail in homicide cases, and Perry will remain in jail.

In the days after the incident, medical staff noted that the baby had no bodily movement and no gag reflex, and his only brain activity was constant seizures. The child remained in critical condition for six days, at which point he was assessed for brain dead criteria.

On Saturday, it was determined that the child was medically brain dead, and all life support was stopped. The child was declared dead at the hospital, and the coroner's office was notified.

An autopsy was performed on May 11, by forensic pathologist Michael Johnson, and it was determined that the cause of death was complications of blunt force trauma and drowning.

Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim has ruled the manner of death to be homicide.

"I would like to commend the officers and medical personnel who valiantly tried to save the life of this child," District Attorney Martin said at a news conference. "If there is anything else that can be said to be a positive from this sad event, it is that organs of Zymeir have been harvested and perhaps will help to save some other child's life."