Lacey Spears is the young single mother who was accused, tried, and convicted of slowly poisoning her 5-year-old son Garnett who died in 2014. She insists the hospital, where Garnett died, is responsible for his death. Garnett spent most of his five years of life in and out of hospitals dealing with unexplained health issues including an usually high level of sodium. One doctor, who treated Garnett when he was just one month old, suspected that Garnett might have been a victim of induced illness by his mother who might have suffered from Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, which causes people to induce illness in someone else as a way to get attention from others. (Standard Munchausen Syndrome sees people who fake or induce illness within themselves.)
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Two years after Garnett’s death, Lacey still says she’s innocent. During an exclusive interview with CBS News, when asked why Garnett’s sodium level was so high, she says, “You’d have to ask the hospital that.” Spears was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was spared the 25-year sentence maximum by Judge Robert Neary who believes Spears does suffer from Munchausen Syndrome. 48 Hours airs Saturdays at 10pm on CBS.
