Apparently mom was poisoning son and then followed him from Tennessee to Pittsburgh hospital to finish the job.
Mom charged with poisoning infant son at Children's Hospital
By Jodi Weigand
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Pittsburgh police said they arrested a Tennessee woman yesterday on an attempted homicide charge for putting salt into her 4-month-old son's feeding tube while he was being treated at Children's Hospital in Oakland.
Hospital staff reported they saw Amber Brewington, 21, of Duck River, Tenn. tampering with the tube, police said. When police searched the woman's backpack they found a canister of salt, bottles of Pedialyte and a syringe, police said.
"We believe that's the way she was injecting the substance into his body, probably through a feeding tube," Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki told the Associated Press, referring to the syringe.
The infant had been transferred from Vanderbilt University for treatment at Children's because of high levels of sodium in his system, according to police. He arrived last Wednesday with his father, and the boy's condition improved until Brewington visited on Sunday, police said.
During a visit yesterday, Brewington was told she could not have physical contact with her son, and hospital staff questioned her when they saw her standing over his hospital bed, police said. They noticed the tube had been tampered with and that Brewington was putting things into her backpack, police said.
"We believe last night was another attempt to deliver more salt water or sodium to her child," Stangrecki told the AP.
The infant was in critical condition at Children's Hospital, Stangrecki said this morning. His name is not being released.
Brewington has two children with the sick baby's father, and another child by another man, Stangrecki told the AP.
Brewington was being held at the Allegheny County Jail this morning on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.
