Prosecutor: Mother poisoned 5-year-old son to get attention on social media

Photo courtesy PIX11 News



WHITE PLAINS, NY – A 5-year-old is dead and his mother accused of his murder.  Now authorities say that mother did it for attention on social media according to PIX11 News in New York City.

That mother, 26-year-old Lacey Spears, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and first degree manslaughter in the wake of the death of her son Garnett-Paul Spears.

Investigators say Spears shared every moment of her son’s life on social media up until his death in January.  Now they believe Spears suffered from Münchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychiatric illness where a caregiver makes a child appear sick by either faking symptoms or actually causing harm to the child to get attention for themselves.

PIX11’s Kristin Cole reported that Spears routinely fed her son with a feeding tube, despite people saying they recalled seeing Garnett-Paul eat solid foods.

Authorities allege Spears poisoned her son with sodium as many as three times in the final days of his life. The boy’s sodium levels were elevated to dangerous levels prior to his death and they said they found search results for poisoning children with sodium on Spears’ computer.

WATCH THE FULL REPORT FROM PIX11 NEWS BELOW: