A “mommy blogger’’ who posted heartbreaking details of her supposed struggle to keep her sickly toddler alive has been charged with fatally poisoning the 5-year-old with salt.
Lacey Spears, 26, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in Westchester Supreme Court to murdering her adorable blond-haired, blue- eyed son, Garnett, who died on Jan. 23.
Authorities charged that she secretly administered at least one dose of salt in a bathroom at Nyack Hospital in Rockland County through a feeding tube the boy had been wearing for some time, Assistant Westchester District Attorney Doreen Lloyd said at Spears’ arraignment on Tuesday.
Spears claims the tube had been prescribed for a chronic gastro-intestinal condition.
The former Chestnut Ridge resident had rushed the boy to the hospital on Jan 17.
Two days later he was airlifted to the children’s hospital at Westchester Medical Center, where he died four days later.
“This mother was intentionally feeding her son salt in toxic levels,” Lloyd said.
Computer records show that Spears had researched online the effect salt might have on her young son, Lloyd said.
Spears, who now lives in Kentucky with her parents, claimed on her blog that the boy’s dad was a former police officer who died in a car accident.
But after learning of the child’s death, an Alabama man, who is not a cop, claimed he’d had a fling with Spears and he was the father.
Prosecutors have been investigating the case ever since the little boy’s death was ruled a homicide on April 30.
Investigators believe that Spears may suffer from “Munchausen by proxy,’’ a mental disorder that could cause a parent to injure a child to garner sympathy from others.
“This is a very sad day for everyone, but it is a day for justice,” said Detective Capt. Christopher Calabrese.
“Justice for the betrayal of the intimate trust between a mother and child, justice for a mother’s continual abuse and death of her innocent child for her own selfish psychological needs and financial gain; justice for Garnett.”
He did not spell out the alleged monetary motive.
Spears’ post on the day the tragic youngster died, read: “Garnett the great journeyed onward today at 10:20 a.m.’’
She faces a maximum 25 years in prison if she’s convicted.
Spears’s story first came to light in The Journal News.