Curiosity
Blogger Lacey Spears investigated over poisoning death of son: Does Spears Have Munchausen Syndrome?
Blogger Lacey Spears investigated over poisoning death of son: Used Salt To Kill 5-Year-Old
A mother living in New York State who wrote frequently in her online blog about her five-year old son’s constant health problems is now a suspect in his death.
Westchester County law enforcement officials have launched an investigation into whether or not 26-year old Lacey Spears deliberately fed her son large doses of salt that led to his death this past January. Law enforcement officials have classified Garnett Spears’ death as a homicide caused by acute sodium poisoning.
‘It’s evident by the nature of what was found in his body that somebody, in effect, poisoned him,’ a source told FoxNews.com. ‘He died at the hands of somebody else.’
Although Spears is originally from Alabama, she left New York shortly after her son’s untimely death and is reported to be currently making her home in Kentucky. Her attorney insists that Spears was in no way responsible for making her son sick or for causing his death. Should the district attorney’s office decide to press homicide charges against the young mother, she would have to be extradited back to New York State and would likely be charged with either first degree murder, negligent homicide, or even manslaughter.
Spears’ attorney, David Sachs, denied any wrongdoing on the part of his client.
“Lacey is completely devastated by the loss of her son and absolutely denies harming her son in any way,” Sachs said in an email to FoxNews.com.
Spears had originally brought her child to the Westchester Medical Center emergency room when he complained of severe stomach cramping from what she said was a stomach virus.
Garrett Spears succumbed four days later and showed extremely high amounts of sodium in his system, leading healthcare providers to alert the police that the boy was very likely given overdoses of salt, either by his mother or another person. Police obtained a search warrant to look for any evidence at Lacey Spears home.
Suspicious: A neighbor claims Spears asked that he hide one of the many feeding tube bags that she used–unnecessarily many say–to feed Garnett as he lay dying in January
Records indicate that Garrett was hospitalized almost two dozen times throughout his very short life. A neighbor told police that Lacey allegedly asked her when her son was dying to go to their home in order to throw away his feeding tube, but the neighbor instead turned it over to the police.
“She wanted the neighbor to dispose of incriminating evidence,” the source said. “The neighbor never did get rid of it and police seized it.” That accusation was originally reported by The Journal News, which was the first news outlet to launch an in-depth investigation into the case.
The Florida Department of Children and Families revealed in April that they’ve had a file on Spears since 2011, following an anonymous tip-off concerning the boy’s welfare.
USA today said, “Spears has portrayed herself on social media as a doting mother struggling to care for a son who’d been in and out of hospitals his entire life.”
Days before taking Garnett to Nyack Hospital, Spears reported on Facebook that he had the flu. Her last post to Facebook was on April 18. Spears put up a photo of her son holding a toy with the comment, “I want to carry on his legacy & the only way I can right now is to write about him & share his pictures.”
Questions have been raised about whether Spears may suffer from Munchausen syndrome, a psychiatric disorder in which a parent harms a child to seek attention and sympathy.
Signs of Munchausen by proxy can include:
A child who often is hospitalized frequently with unexplained illness and then their condition improves when the parent is not with them 24/7
Other symptoms that do not equate the child’s test results.
Symptoms that deteriorate at home but get better when the child is in hospital
Siblings who also died under unexplained circumstances.
A parent who is a nurse or who has operated in the health care field.
Online:
Mother who wrote blog about her sick five-year-old son could be CHARGED with killing him with salt overdose
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2621086/Blogging-mom-wrote-sick-five-year-old-son-charged-killing-salt-overdose.html
Mom of 5-year-old boy who died from poisoned feeding tube could face charges
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/05/mom-5-year-old-boy-who-died-from-poisoned-feeding-tube-could-face-charges/
Blogger Lacey Spears investigated over poisoning death of son
http://www.ibtimes.com/lacey-spears-blogger-mom-who-may-have-poisoned-son-garnett-great-could-face-criminal-1580758