Lacy Spears, 26, of Rockland County, NY, first came into the public eye when she was brought under investigation following the death of her son. The investigation occured due to the high levels of sodium found in her 5-year-old son’s body when he died. Investigators speculated that Spears may have been slowly killing her son, Garnett, in order to get attention. This theory followed Spears’ blog postings, in which she wrote about her son’s “courageous” battle with his sickness.
Police have recently confirmed this murder. Spears was arrested, pleading not guilty this past Tues., Jun. 17, to her charges of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the death of her son.
In court, Assistant District Attorney Doreen Lloyd revealed that Spears had extensively searched the internet to find out what large doses of salt could do to a person.
Garnett died on Jan. 23, 2014, at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla. Following his death, doctors found toxic levels of sodium in his blood. He had been in and out of hospitals his whole life for different illnesses. In November of 2009, Spears wrote on her Facebook page that Garnett had been to the hospital 23 times. On Jan. 20, Garnett was apparently lucid and conversational. His condition then declined.
According to The Journal News, investigations prove that Spears had taken her son into a hospital bathroom on Jan. 17, and then on Jan. 19, in order to administer sodium. Spears used a tube that went directly into Garnett’s stomach. Spears has been suspected of poisoning her son at least twice.
Authorities are suspicious of whether Garnett was sick to begin with at all. They believe that Spears subjected him to his illnesses in order to gain sympathetic attention from others through Facebook and Twitter.
In court, prosecutor Lloyd pointed out that, “During the afternoon, that child goes from moderate to severe cerebral dysfunction. And as that is going on, this child’s sodium level is going up. It coincides with the actions of this defendant.” This aligns with a doctors observations who had confronted Spears. He told her that it was “metabolically impossible” for her son to have been producing such great amounts of sodium naturally. He added, “something isn’t right.”
A neighbor of Spears in Chestnut Ridge told the cops that Spears had called her from the hospital and asked her to get rid of Garnett’s feeding tube. When the bag was found, police said that there was large amounts of sodium in it.
A friend of Spears commented on her behavior while in the hospital, saying, “It was not the behavior of a grieving mother. She was more concerned about what everyone else was saying, or what investigators were asking people, or what people were saying on Facebook, than putting all that aside and taking care of her child.” Spears’ friends also described her behavior as “weird,” as the mother was taking pictures of her dying son.
Spears is not being charged for intentionally killing her son, by rather doing so out of negligence for his life and a desire for more attention on her blog, which is called “Garnett’s Journey.” Therefore, psychiatrists believe that Spears had Munchhausen Syndrome, a condition in which a parent poisons his or her child in order to gain sympathy and attention.
Capt. Christopher Calabrese, commander of the Westchester County Police Detective Division stated, “This is a very sad day for everyone, but it is a day for justice. Justice for the betrayal of the intimate trust between a mother and child, justice for a mother’s continual abuse and death of her innocent child for her own selfish psychological needs and financial gain; justice for Garnett.”
According to The New York Post, Spears wrote her last social media post on Jan. 23, saying, “Garnett the great journeyed onward today at 10:20 a.m..”
Spears now faces 25 years to life in prison on the murder charge and up to 25 years for manslaughter. She will return to court on Jul. 2. Spears continued to deny that she did anything harmful to her son.
Photo: Facebook
