Today District Attorney Jim Martin announced that a mother pled guilty to murder in the death of her son. Johnesha Perry, 21, of Allentown, pled guilty to Murder of the Third Degree, a felony of the first degree, in the death of her son, Zymeir. She was sentenced to 20 to 40 years.

On May 3, 2015, Ms. Perry pushed the child off the Hamilton St. Bridge. He was 20 months old at the time of the incident. Perry then jumped off the bridge herself. The child died six days later. The cause of death was complications of blunt force trauma and drowning.In giving the facts of the case, Chief Deputy District Attorney Matthew Falk stated that Ms. Perry ...”has real mental health issues, and while they certainly do not absolve her of the responsibility of this monstrous act, we believe that they, along with her low IQ, require us, in fairness, to offer this plea.”Chief Public Defender Kimberly Makoul made statements for the defense, as did fellow Public Defenders Katherine Smith and Gavin Holihan. Mitigation Specialist Louise Luck gave background of Ms. Perry’s childhood, which included sexual abuse not only by her biological brother, but also by a series of men her biological mother allowed to molest her. Further, she testified that the biological mother drank heavily while pregnant with Ms. Perry.In imposing the sentence, Judge Kelly Banach commended the Commonwealth, saying it showed courage and “good sense” with the resolution of the case as opposed to taking it to trial.Allentown (end)