Lacey Spears, a mother from Scottsville, Kentucky, was found guilty of second-degree murder of her own son in the Westchester Hospital in 2014. Spears who the authorities states that she force fed her five year old boy with the use of a stomach tube and basked in the attention that a sickly child brought her.
Spears have been blogging about her son's ailment for years and the authorities said that the main reason she killed the boy is that he may start telling people that it is his mother that is making him sick.
A CCTV clip from the hospital showed her taking the boy twice to the hospital bathroom holding a tube and the boy suffering after that, NBC News reported.
Law enforcement explained that Spears craved for her family's attention, her friends, her coworkers, and especially the medical profession.
"The motive is bizarre, the notion is scary, but it exists ... She apparently craved the attention of her family, her friends, her co-workers and most particularly the medical profession," Assistant District Attorney Patricia Murphy explained.
Several doctors testified that they could not detect any medical explanations that could tell the spike in Garnett's sodium levels that led him to his death.
Defense Lawyer Stephen Riebling explained that there was no "direct evidence" of the crime and showed their own witnesses to tell that Spears is a loving and caring mother and how devastated she was over her son's death, according to Fox News.
The defense accused the prosecutors of editing the said video and removing the tender hugs that the mother and child shared and the part where Spears put socks on Garnett's feet.
There were several evidences found against Spears which includes two feeding bags that were heavily tainted with salt. According to forensic toxicologist who testified, one bag can contain 69 pieces of McDonald's salt packets in it.
Spears was living with Garnett at Chestnut Ridge, New York when he died. A disorder known as Munchausen by proxy is likely what fits Spears condition where a guardian harms children to get sympathy from others.