US mother gets 20 years jail term for killing son

New York, April 9: A US woman has been jailed for 20 years for killing her five-year-old sick son here in 2014, a media report said on Thursday.

The 27-year old Lacey Spears was given 20 years to life in prison for poisoning her 5-year-old son Garnett-Paul Spears to death to gain attention online, New York Times reported.

Lacey poisoned her son with salt in his hospital feeding tube in Westchester County. His feeding tube had been in place since infancy when Lacey told doctors he could not keep food down.

Prosecutors said Lacey, a former resident of neighboring Rockland County, force-fed high concentrations of sodium through the boy's stomach tube because she craved the attention his illness brought to her, especially through her numerous postings on social media.

Lacey's actions was described as evil, inhuman and despicable.

The judge said she was suffering from a rare mental disorder and so was spared the maximum 25-year sentence available.

However, defence lawyers had refused to raise the disorder as a defence and said she had not been diagnosed with any mental illness.

OneIndia News