Westchester County District Attorney

111 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
White Plains, NY 10601
Tel: (914) 995-3586
Fax: (914) 995-2116

March 2, 2015 -- Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that Lacey Spears (DOB 10/16/87) of 247 Travis Road, Scottsville, Kentucky was convicted after a jury trial to the count in the indictment charging her with:

• one count of Depraved Murder in the Second Degree, a class “A” Felony,

relating to the death of her 5-year-old son, Garnett-Paul Spears, who was declared dead at Westchester Medical Center on Jan. 23, 2014.

“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. 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,” said District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

On Jan. 19, 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, Jan. 17, 2014, the defendant brought the victim to Nyack Hospital reporting seizure activity and he is admitted to rule out seizures.
• Sunday Jan. 19, 2014 at 10:08 p.m. the victim is airlifted to Westchester Medical Center and admitted.
• Tuesday Jan. 21, 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, Jan. 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 17, 2014 the defendant has an indictment against her unsealed charging her with the murder.

Sentencing will be on April 8, 2015.

The defendant faces a maximum sentence of twenty-five years to life in prison.

Second Deputy District Attorney Patricia Murphy, Chief of the Superior Court Trial Division, Assistant District Attorney Doreen Lloyd, Chief of the Child Abuse Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Christine Hatfield, Deputy Chief of the Child Abuse Bureau are prosecuting the case.
   

In compliance with Disciplinary Rule 7-107A of the Code of Professional Responsibility, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.