Garnett-Paul Thompson Spears was a 5-year-old boy who died at a hospital in suburban Valhalla, New York. The cause of death was determined to be high levels of sodium leading to swelling in his brain.
Murder case
After his death, Garnett's mother, Lacey Spears, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter of her 5-year-old son. On March 2, 2015, a jury found Spears guilty of murdering her son by poisoning him with table salt, which she had administered to him from infancy through his feeding tube. On April 8, 2015, a judge sentenced Spears to 20 years to life in prison for the death of her son. The judge in the case, Robert Neary, acknowledged that Lacey Spears suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and therefore did not sentence her to the maximum of 25 years in prison before parole eligibility. Her murder conviction was upheld in state appellate court and the state's highest court declined to review her conviction. She is imprisoned at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women.
Lacey Spears
Lacey Spears was born and raised in Decatur, Alabama. Lonely as a single mother and desperate for attention, Lacey constantly posted on social media about her son's health struggles, even going so far as to start a blog devoted to chronicling her search for a cure for whatever illnesses plagued him. Telling friends she wanted to leave Alabama, Lacey moved with Garnett to Florida to live with her maternal grandmother, Peggy. While there, Lacey became friendly with Kim, a neighbor. Lacey confided in Kim that her father had raped her and Garnett was the product of said assault. Eventually, she moved with her son to the town of Chestnut Ridge, New York, 14 months prior to Garnett's death. In New York, Lacey and Garnett lived in a community called The Fellowship for elderly and disabled people. In explaining her son's paternity, she created a fictional character, police officer Blake, who died in a car accident, to be Garnett's father. She lied to Garnett's alleged biological father, Chris Hill, that Garnett wasn't his son and threatened him to keep distance from her and Garnett.
