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Relatives, friends baffled by mother's murder-suicide attempt in Perth Amboy

Family members and friends are trying to make sense of why a woman threw her baby from a bridge in Perth Amboy and then jumped in herself Friday. Investigators believe 24-year-old Jerlisa Contrares tried

News 12 Staff

Jun 17, 2006, 11:17 PM

Updated 6,751 days ago

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Family members and friends are trying to make sense of why a woman threw her baby from a bridge in Perth Amboy and then jumped in herself Friday.
Investigators believe 24-year-old Jerlisa Contrares tried to take her own life and her baby?s life about 11:30 a.m. at the Victory Bridge. Crews recovered the body of 18-month-old Alyssa Scott from the Raritan River, but the toddler died shortly after. Contrares was also pulled from the river. Doctors at Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center in New Brunswick say the mother remains in critical condition. Meanwhile, investigators searched her apartment for clues.
Lourds Maldanado, who has a son, says she cannot understand why her friend killed her baby. Other friends say they offered Contrares help after she admitted being stressed out. A neighbor claims Contrares had just found out the father of her baby girl was seeing another woman. Relatives say they had no idea Contrares was so desperate and depressed. She also has an 8-year-old boy.