Lacey Spears Found Guilty of 2nd Degree Murder

A jury has found Chestnut Ridge resident Lacey Spears guilty of depraved murder in the death of her five-year-old son, Garnett-Paul.

“At sentencing my office will be asking the court to sentence Ms. Spears to the maximum allowed under the law, which is a life sentence,” said Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, speaking to the press after the verdict.

Spears, 26, is being held at Westchester County Jail until sentencing, which will be April 6.

At a press conference, DiFiore thanked all the Rockland and Westchester police and prosecutors involved in the investigation and trial, particularly some officers from the Ramapo Police Department.

“Because of the absolutely extraordinary effort by this entire team, this was not a close case this team worked over the course of this past year to put together a strong body of evidence to take to the jury,” she said. Investigators traveled to five states and amassed thousands of documents, many about the medical history of the boy which Spears wrote about extensively on social media.

She also thanked the medical team at Westchester Medical Center, including “the keen sense of the doctors who were immediately suspicious.”

She said they are prepared to meet any and all issued raised in any appeal.

“Throughout his five years, Garnett Spears was forced to suffer through repeated hospitalizations, unneeded surgical procedures and ultimately poisoning with salt, all at the hands of the one person who should have been his ultimate protector: his mother,“ she said in a written statement. “Using the child’s “illnesses” to self aggrandize herself, her actions directly lead to her son’s tortured death. We will continue to ensure that his mother is held accountable and that justice for Garnett Spears will be served in his memory.”

The DA reviewed the chain of events:

On January 19th 2014, Garnett Spears was transferred to WMC from Nyack Hospital in Rockland County by Medivac helicopter when without any medical explanation his sodium level rose from 144 to 182 meq/L, - milliequivalents per liter - an extremely dangerous level of sodium.

The normal range of serum sodium in the blood is 135-145 meq/L.

The child’s diagnosis was acute hypernatremia.

The defendant provided the medical staff with a medical history for her son, including extensive medical visits, hospitalizations and invasive surgical procedures. This history coupled with an unexplained rise in his sodium levels at Nyack Hospital prompted the doctors at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the WMC to suspect Lacey Spears of harming her son prompting their call to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

Based on the CPS call and referral to law enforcement, an investigation immediately commenced.

Investigators focused on the child’s recent history and actions of the defendant:

• Friday, January 17th, 2014, the defendant brought the victim to Nyack Hospital reporting seizure activity and he is admitted to rule out seizures.

• Sunday January 19th • Sunday January 19th 2014 at 10:08 p.m. the victim is airlifted to Westchester

Medical Center and admitted.

• Tuesday January 21st 2014, at 7:15 a.m. the code bell goes off. Medical staff respond. The child is on his back, unresponsive, and barely breathing, both pupils were blown, he was pale gray in color.

At 11:57 a.m. the head of the Hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit calls in a Child Protective Services report to the State Central Register.

At 12:00 p.m. an EEG showed electro cerebral silence.

• Thursday, January 23, 2014, Garnett Spears is declared deceased.

Search warrants were executed on the Spears’ residence. During the case evidence relating to the child’s condition was recovered including feeding bags containing extraordinary amounts of sodium.

On June 17th, 2014 the defendant has an indictment against her unsealed charging her with the murder.

SEE ALSO:

• Lacey Spears Murder Trial in Hands of Jury
• UPDATE: Details of the Depraved Murder Charge Against Lacey Spears
• News Report: Mother Mourns, Police Investigate