Mother pleads guilty to killing disabled son by injecting hand sanitizer into feeding tube
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Louisiana woman has pleaded guilty to killing an infant son who had Down syndrome by injecting hand sanitizer into his feeding tube.
Plaquemines Parish District Attorney Charles Ballay said in a news release that 22-year-old Erika Wigstrom pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter. A judge sentenced the Belle Chasse woman to the maximum 40 years in prison without probation or suspension of sentence.
A grand jury indicted Wigstrom on first-degree murder and attempted first-degree-murder charges in the death of her son, Lucas Ruiz. Lucas died of alcohol poisoning in January 2014.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prosecutors say Wigstrom first tried to kill Lucas in October 2012 by injecting perfume into his feeding tube while he was in the hospital for a heart procedure. He survived, but died after she injected the hand sanitizer.