Garnett Spears' salt levels spiked when he was a baby
Garnett Spears suffered high salt levels as a baby – years before Lacey Spears was charged with poisoning him to death with salt – and Spears said she wanted to harm her son
Garnett Spears' salt levels spiked when he was a baby Garnett Spears suffered high salt levels as a baby – years before Lacey Spears was charged with poisoning him to death with salt – and Spears said she wanted to harm her son Check out this story on lohud.com: http://lohud.us/1uepqad
Lee Higgins, lhiggins2@lohud.com Published 1:30 p.m. ET Sept. 18, 2014 | Updated 4:38 p.m. ET Sept. 18, 2014
Garnett Spears(Photo: Facebook photo provided courtesy of his family)
A 5-year-old Chestnut Ridge boy allegedly poisoned to death with salt by his mother in January, was diagnosed with "hypernatremia or elevated sodium levels" prior to his first birthday, but there's no indication staff at an Alabama hospital reported the suspected abuse to authorities.
The Journal News obtained a copy of Garnett Spears' child fatality report that reveals that Alabama medical records show that five years ago there was concern for Lacey Spears' "emotional stability and it was presumed she suffered from Postpartum Depression and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy" – a form of medical child abuse where a parent sickens a child for sympathy or attention.
When Garnett was just five weeks old, Spears "verbalized that she wanted to harm" him, the report says, and was referred about a month later to "Medical Social Services for interpersonal conflict, stress and dysfunction."
Document: Read the Child Fatality Report
Childhood: Truth, lies and Lacey Spears
Series: Losing Garnett the Great
There is no indication of follow-up noted in the fatality report. Barry Spear, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the state agency that investigates child abuse, said Thursday he had no record of hypernatremia being reported when Garnett was a baby or suspicions that his mother may have Munchausen.
Spears, 26, who chronicled in great detail on Facebook her son's medical crises throughout his life, up to and including his death, pleaded not guilty in June to charges of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in his Jan. 23 death at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Valhalla. She is being held without bail at the Westchester County jail.
Lacey Spears, accompanied by her attorneys, presented herself at the Westchester County Courthouse and was charged in the 2nd degree murder of her son of Garnett Spears, 5, on June 17, 2014. (Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)
She is accused of poisoning Garnett with sodium through his stomach tube. The cause of death was "hypernatremia from exogenous (outside) source" resulting in brain swelling. The child fatality report substantiates findings against Spears of inadequate guardianship, causing internal injuries to her son and being responsible for his death.
A lawyer for Lacey Spears, Stephen Reibling, declined to comment on the report Thursday. Lawyers have moved to suppress Garnett's past medical records from the case and keep out any mention of Munchausen syndrome.
Westchester County District Attorney's office spokesman Lucian Chalfen also declined comment.
The fatality report, obtained by The Journal News from the New York State Office of Children and Families under the Freedom of Information Law, documents that police and social workers were investigating a formal complaint against Lacey Spears two days before Garnett died. Garnett was airlifted to Maria Fareri on Jan. 19 after a spike in his sodium level at Nyack Hospital.
On Jan. 21, law enforcement and Rockland County Department of Social Services workers responded to the hospital after the state received a report that "the subject child had ongoing suspicious seizure activity that escalated when he was left alone with his mother." Lacey Spears' explanation for his condition was "not consistent with the child's symptoms."
An attending physician told a caseworker that "the subject child's sodium levels had risen to a very high level and explained that the child would have had to have been deprived of water for a minimum of three days, and there is no medical diagnosis for the sodium level with which he arrived at the hospital."
The doctor described the family dynamics as "strange" and said the child was doing well until he had an "episode" that morning. A CT scan revealed brain swelling and the mother was making statements inconsistent with what Garnett wanted.
"This includes the mother stating the subject child had a headache," the report says. "When questioned, the subject child stated that he did not have a headache and just wanted to go home. Additionally, the mother stated that the subject child was thirsty, however the subject child never asked for a drink and when offered one, the subject child declined."
The next day, after police and social workers were already investigating Spears, Garnett's sodium level spiked 48 points, according to the report. He was declared brain dead the following morning.
The Journal News previously broke news that Florida child welfare authorities twice investigated Spears in 2011 – once for reportedly slapping Garnett and letting him swim with bleeding ears and again for not following medical recommendations to ensure he gained weight. The department found him to be at "intermediate risk" for neglect. There was no follow-up and Spears moved to the secluded Fellowship Community in Chestnut Ridge in Rockland the following year.
According to the fatality report, investigators obtained medical records from a Tennessee hospital showing Garnett suffered from "bleeding through his eyes and ears with no known medical explanation." The report does not give the date of the incident.
The same gruesome symptoms appear in a note kept by Alabama child welfare investigators that show Garnett as an eight-month-old was bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth and ears during a medical flight from Decatur General Hospital to Birmingham Children's Hospital. The note suggests "something is not right." Again, no formal report was generated and no child welfare case opened on Spears and her son.
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