Mother threw son off bridge, police say

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A woman who appealed for money online to help care for her autistic son and disabled husband has been accused of throwing her 6-year-old boy to his death off a historic bridge on the Oregon coast.

Police said Jillian Meredith McCabe, 34, called 911 from the bridge in Newport as darkness fell Monday to report what she had done and waited until police arrived.

“I just threw my son over the Yaquina Bay Bridge,” McCabe told the dispatcher, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday.

She described her son, London Grey McCabe, and the clothes he was wearing, saying he was in the water and gone. Later that night, a body was reported in the water at a bayside resort about a mile from the bridge, and police said they confirmed it was the kindergartner.

Andrew McCabe confirmed Tuesday that his sister-in-law had written an appeal on YouCaring.com, a crowdfunding website. In it, she described caring for her autistic son and her husband, Matt, who has been unable to work since developing multiple sclerosis and a mass on his brain stem.

The appeal ended eight months ago, after raising $6,831 toward a goal of $50,000.

“I love my husband and he has taken care of myself and my son for years and years and now it’s time for me to take the helm. I am scared and I am reaching out,” Jillian McCabe wrote.

McCabe appeared by video in Lincoln County Circuit Court in Newport, where she entered no pleas on charges of murder, aggravated murder and manslaughter, the court reported. The two attorneys appointed to represent her did not immediately return calls for comment. The aggravated murder charge, which carries a potential death penalty, was filed because the boy was younger than 14.