5-Year-Old Garnett Spears' Death Ruled Homicide, Sources Tell WCBS 880
CHESTNUT RIDGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The death of a 5-year-old Rockland County boy has been ruled a homicide and his mother is under investigation, sources told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.
Before Garnett Spears died Jan. 23 at Westchester Medical Center, doctors found the boy had suspiciously high levels of sodium, sources said.
Garnett, of Chestnut Ridge, had been in and out of hospitals his entire life for various illnesses.
The Westchester Medical Examiner's office determined that Garnett's death was a homicide, sources told Haskell.
Authorities wonder if the boy's mother, Lacey Spears, suffers from Munchausen by Proxy, a psychiatric illness in which a parent sickens a child to gain attention and sympathy, sources said.
The 26-year-old mother has refused to speak to investigators, Haskell reported.
Lacey Spears routinely detailed her son's medical problems on Facebook.
On April 18, she posted: "I have thousands upon thousands of pictures (of Garnett). I so desperately never wanted to forget any moment of his journey... Very thankful to have all those pictures now. Sure am missing him. Easter will be the 1st holiday without him... I know there was Valentine's Day but I just have no memory."
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