The young Westchester County mother accused of giving her son a fatal overdose of sodium to generate attention for herself was convicted by a jury in White Plains today. Lacey Spears, 27, was convicted of second-degree murder for the death of five-year-old Garrett Spears.
Last summer, authorities arrested Spears for allegedly "feeding her son salt in toxic levels." Garrett Spears had been admitted to Nyack Hospital on January 17, 2014, and a few days later, his sodium levels were dangerously high. Prosecutors believe that Spears injected the sodium into his stomach via a feeding tube—to "metabolically impossible" levels— in the hospital room's bathroom. He was transferred to Westchester Medical Center, where on January 21, "he was barely breathing, his pupils were blown and his skin was a pale gray." He died on January 23.
The Journal News ran a long series about Spears and her apparently made-up stories about her background, as well as Garrett's health and death. Spears had blogged about Garrett's poor health for years. The boy had a feeding tube for many years, but the Journal News found:
Gastric feeding tubes are most commonly recommended for children with serious illnesses including short gut syndrome, a chronic condition diagnosed soon after birth in which the body can't properly absorb nutrients. Other conditions include a swallowing problem or a neurological illness or injury that makes swallowing difficult. Even in those cases, it a temporary treatment.
Prosecutor Patricia Murphy had said last week in her closing statement, "The motive is bizarre, the notion is scary, but it exists ... She apparently craved the attention of her family, her friends, her co-workers and most particularly the medical profession."
Spears's defense lawyer, who suggested that Nyack Hospital was actually at fault because Garrett had become dehydrated and was "given salty IV fluid", said they would appeal.
Spears did not take the stand.
