Blogger mum poisoned son to death with salt

A woman who blogged for years about her son's poor health has been convicted of poisoning him to death with salt. Lacey Spears showed little emotion as a New York state jury found her guilty of second-degree murder for five-year-old Garnett-Paul Spears' death. The 27-year-old repeatedly force-fed the boy sodium through a stomach tube before he died on 23 January last year. Spears portrayed herself as a devoted mother while documenting on social media her son's battle with a mysterious illness. Prosecutors said she eventually killed the boy because she feared he would reveal she was poisoning him. The trial heard that Spears loved the drama of Garnett's illness. Assistant District Attorney Patricia Murphy said in closing arguments: "She apparently craved the attention of her family, her friends, her co-workers and most particularly the medical profession." Doctors testified in court there was no medical explanation for the fatal surge in Garnett's sodium levels. Spears tweeted in November 2009, adding a sad-faced emoticon: "My sweet angel is in the hospital for the 23rd time. "Please pray he gets to come home soon."

But footage showed her twice taking Garnett into a hospital bathroom with a connector tube and the boy suffering afterwards. Spears maintained her innocence despite the fact that two feeding bags heavily tainted with salt had been found in her apartment. She asked a friend to hide one of them. "Get rid of it and don't tell anybody," she said. The equivalent of 69 McDonald's salt packets was in one bag, a forensic toxicologist testified. The court heard Spears was a "calculating child killer" who carried out online research into the dangers of sodium in children. Prosecutors said Spears often lied to doctors about Garnett's health, once falsely claiming he had celiac disease. Spears was living in Chestnut Ridge, New York, at the time of the boy's death, but she is originally from Decatur, Alabama.