
Content warning: this story includes descriptions of child abuse that may be distressing to some readers.
To her social media followers, Lacey Spears was a devoted mother doing the best she could despite the difficult hand life had dealt her. To her defenders, she was a 'loving' mother trying to take care of her sick child. To prosecutors, Spears' care for her son was calculated, dangerous and "nothing short of torture".
In a New York courtroom in 2015, with the world's eyes fixed on the outwardly normal 27-year-old Alabama native, Spears was found guilty of second-degree murder – she had poisoned her son with high levels of sodium through his feeding tube, which led to swelling in his brain until he died in 2014.
Lacey's son, Garnett-Paul Thompson Spears was born in 2008, and very early on he would be admitted to the hospital on a regular basis, for everything from high fevers to ear infections, convulsions, and gastrointestinal problems. Spears repeatedly told doctors her son was 'ill'. On the stand, doctors said the cause of Garnett's illnesses was always uncertain, but she was adamant her son needed treatment.
Watch: Lacey Spears speaks out on what happened to her son, Garnett. Post continues below.