US mother poisoned son to death by force-feeding him with salt

Lacey Spears, a US mother who blogged about her son's health woes, was sentenced to prison on Monday for killing her son by force-feeding him salt.
Spears was convicted of second-degree murder and faces 25 years to life in prison, according to ABC News. She force poisoned her son, 5-year-old Garnett-Paul Spears, using salt fed through a stomach tube. Prosecutors said she killed the boy because she was afraid he would say she was poisoning him.

Lacey Spears played the loving mother online. In reality she was killing her son. Photo / AP

On social media, Spears played the role of loving mother, often tweeting about how much she loved her son.

My Sweet Angel Is In The Hospital For The 23rd Time :( Please Pray He Gets To Come Home Soon...
— Lacey E Spears (@GarnettsMommy) November 11, 2009

But prosecutors in the case painted a different picture, telling the jury that Spears loved the attention she got from her son's medical issues.
"She apparently craved the attention of her family, her friends, her co-workers and most particularly the medical profession," Assistant District Attorney Patricia Murphy said in closing arguments.

My son is my everything!!! I love him so much :)
— Lacey E Spears (@GarnettsMommy) February 20, 2010

Video cameras caught Spears on two occasions taking her son into a hospital bathroom with a feeding tube. A search of her apartment also turned up two feeding bags contaminated with salt. One of the bags had the equivalent of 69 salt packets.
Prosecutors called Spears a "calculating child killer" and told the jury that she searched the internet for the effects of sodium on children. They also said that Spears would lie to doctors about her son's health.