Investigators believe Munchausen syndrome is reason mummy blogger Lacey Spears allegedly poisoned her son to death

GARNETT had been ill his whole life, while his mother documented his journey online. Now police believe she was behind the sickness that killed her son.

Lacey Spears is escorted into the courtroom at the Westchester County Courthouse, New York, on Tuesday. She is charged with the depraved murder and manslaughter of her son, five-year-old Garnett-Paul Spears. Picture: AP/The Journal News, Ricky Flores

INVESTIGATORS believe they know the reason US mummy blogger Lacey Spears allegedly poisoned her five-year-old son to death.

The New York mother is accused of giving her son Garnett-Paul Spears a lethal dose of sodium in an apparent ploy for attention, the Washington Post reports.

Authorities believe Ms Spears, 26, may have been suffering from the mental illness Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which causes a parent to deliberately make their child sick in order to elicit attention and sympathy from others.

Lacey Spears and her son Garnett-Paul. Picture: Facebook

She has been charged with the depraved murder and manslaughter of her young son, accused of killing him on January 23 by injecting him with a salt solution through his stomach tube while hospital staff were out of the room.

Investigators suspect that her fatal actions were fuelled by the attention she received on social media and her “mummy” blog, where she has religiously documented his health problems — including ear infections, fevers, seizures and digestive ailments.

Ms Spears also created a sophisticated web of lies on her Facebook account and her blog, including the fabrication that Garnett’s father is a hero named Blake who died in a car accident. The boy’s real father, Chris Hill, is still alive.

Garnett-Paul Spears in hospital with his mother Lacey, who is accused of his murder.

Garnett had a long history of illness. He was first treated a hospital for an ear infection when he was five days old, he had trouble gaining weight at nine months, and presented to doctors again at two years old with a staph infection and blood leaking from his ears and nose.

Also, the January incident was not the first time he had presented with elevated sodium levels. Doctors noticed he had high levels of salt during when he was treated after he stopped breathing at 10 weeks old.

“The mother was intentionally feeding her son salt in toxic levels,” Westchester County assistant district attorney Doreen Lloyd said, according to the Washington Post.

Ms Spears has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, she could face life imprisonment.

Lacey Spears was indicted in New York on Tuesday on charges of depraved murder and manslaughter. Picture: AP Photo/Westchester County District Attorney

Originally published as Investigators believe Munchausen syndrome is reason mummy blogger Lacey Spears allegedly poisoned her son to death