As parents we would do anything to protect our children which is why cases where parents are convicted of harming their babies is so hard to comprehend.
In perhaps one of the most shocking cases a mom was convicted of poisoning her child over a long period of time with salt.
Lacey Spears was jailed for 20 years for putting toxic levels of sodium in her 5-year-old son’s feeding bags.
Now the 28-year-old Kentucky mom is complaining that jail is difficult alleging bullying from other inmates.
Garnett came into the world in the winter of 2008, the product of a relationship between Lacey and a mystery man by the name of Blake, a police officer who was supposedly killed in auto accident prior to the baby’s birth. Later it was revealed that Lacey created the fictional character, police officer Blake, to be Garnett’s father.
Anyways, Garnett arrived to the world as a healthy toddler.
But almost immediately, he began to develop problems with malnutrition and dehydration.
Plagued by all his health issues, Lacey Spears took Garnett to over a dozen hospitals.
“Garnett had severe ear infections … and the biggest problem we had was we couldn’t get him to eat … so he was losing weight…he just would not take a bottle, he would not take baby food, he would not nurse”, she told “48 Hours”.
At 10 weeks old, doctors at a hospital in Alabama found his sodium levels to be unusually high at 180. The normal range is 140 for infants.
According to Lacey Spears, she still couldn’t get Garnett to eat and gain weight.
Her son was hospitalized 23 times, once for almost five weeks and by the time he had reached nine months old, doctors were concerned he was not receiving the essential nutrients he needed to survive.
Lacey Spears documented her life with Garnett on social media.
She included photos of him during hospital stays and frequently posted on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and a blog she created, “Garnett’s Journey.”
In 2012, Lacey and Garnett Spears moved to Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. She lived in an alternative and holistic living community called The Fellowship Community.
Life at the Fellowship was going well for Lacey Spears, and for Garnett, who after living there for a year-and-a-half, was thriving. At least according to Lacey.
“He was a little social butterfly and he loved it,” Spears told “48 Hours.”
But shortly after Garnett Spears turned 5, he was hospitalized once again. Lacey’s son, whom she called “Garnett the Great” and “my little prince,” was sick again.
This time he would never return home.
A video EEG was set up using a special cap on his head, wired to a machine that monitors brain activity. Meanwhile, with his mother’s consent, a camera recorded Garnett in the room.
This is when things took a turn for the worse.
Tests showed that Garnett’s sodium levels, which were a normal 138 when he was admitted, rose to dangerous levels of 182.
Garnett Spears was transported by helicopter to Westchester’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.
His condition improved but the recovery lasted less than 24 hours. The high sodium levels had already caused Garnett’s brain to swell.
On Jan. 23, 2014, Garnett Spears was officially declared dead.
Garnett-Paul Thompson Spears was just five years old when he died at a Westchester County hospital.
Soon, doctors suspected Lacey Spears poisoned her son with salt and called for a police investigation.
Police immediately acquired search warrants to enter her home and they seized hundreds of items including the bottle of sea salt seen in this photo.
Lacey Spears was arrested on June 17, 2014, almost five months after her son’s death.
The former lifestyle and mother care blogger Lacey Spears was convicted of murder in a court case that heard the mom’s treatment of her son was “nothing short of torture.”
The court heard that as soon as Garnett was given a clean bill of health in hospital she took him into the bathroom where she put a toxic amount of salt in his feeding bag.
As a blogger, Lacey had to generate as much attention as she could – all the while maintaining a facade of credibility and truth.
Amount found equal to 69 McDonald’s salt packets
Feeding bags found in her home showed dangerously high concentrations of salt. One contained an amount equal to 69 McDonald’s salt packets, according to NY Daily News.
Her son was in and out of hospital throughout his short life with doctors often puzzled as to his condition. Lacey told many health professionals that her son wouldn’t eat.
She claimed that her son had too many procedures, which took a toll on his body, causing his death.
In sentencing her, the judge said to Lacey: “One does not have to be a psychologist to know that you suffer from a mental illness known as Munchausen Syndrome.”
This is a condition where parents and caregivers make up or cause health problems in their children to gain attention.
Garnett passed away on January 23, 2014 in a hospital in Valhalla, New York. Lacey Spears denied she had anything to do with his death.
The mom blogger told the author of an upcoming book that she was unhappy in jail.
She complained that her fellow inmates constantly bully her throughout her sentence in Bedford Hills prison, a facility located in Westchester County, New York.
In prison, inmates nicknamed her ‘baby killer’.
“When she walked through the line and it would be her turn to pick up the tray (someone) would put salt packets over her meal and then hand the tray to her,” Spears’ sister, Rebecca, told the crime writer John Glatt, according to RadarOnline.
“It’s been brutal here. Crimes involving children are considered the worst here,” Lacey reportedly told Glatt.
“I hear them talking behind my back, calling me ‘baby killer,’ ‘child killer,’ and ‘mother of the year.’ But I know it’s not who I am.”
She claimed that she was not responsible for her son’s death – she was the victim instead!
Lacey Spears, now incarcerated for 20 years to life for her crimes, complains of her fellow inmates pouring salt on her food before serving it to her.
The mom is reported to have refused protective custody at the maximum security facility as it would mean she stayed in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.
It would seem that even behind bars, Lacey has found a way to connect with her fans, giving interviews and even after her conviction and all of the evidence against her, she still protests her innocence.
The video below shows graphic scenes of the moment her sweet boy started to get sick in hospital. You make your mind up on this case.
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXbTztWzPUs” /]
What do you think about Lacey Spears’ complaints? Feel free to leave your comments below and share with your friends and family to find out their views.
Rest in peace sweet Garnett.
