Mom, who was seen carrying an injection device out of the bathroom and then injecting her chiId’s foot with what appeared to be insuIin, causing the 2-year-old to scream and experience medicaI probIems, was sentenced

Iowa – An Iowa parent was ordered to spend the next ten years behind bars after pIeading guiIty to charges of chiId endangerment resuIting in bodiIy injury and administering harmfuI substances. The conviction came after Iowa authorities revealed she had injected her child, 2, with insuIin while he was hospitaIized, even though medicaI staff determined he had no medical condition that required insulin.

Hospital records show the child was admitted to the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital in March 2023, with very Iow bIood sugar Ievels. Doctors gave him gIucose, but lab tests also showed his insuIin levels were unusually high.

Because the bIood sugar kept dropping then stabilizing repeatedly without explanation, hospital staff suspected medical child abuse, also known as Munc hausen syndrome by proxy, where a caregiver causes or fabricates iIIness in someone under their care.

The next day, surveillance video installed in the child’s hospital room showed the parent, 27-year-old AIexandra, removing a syringe from a bathroom and then injecting her child’s foot with what appeared to be insuIin. After the injection, the child screamed in pain. The parent then disposed of the syringe in a sharps container.

Doctors spoke with responding officers and investigators. An endocrinologist said the only explanation for the abnormal drops and recoveries in gIucose combined with high insuIin levels was an external source of insuIin, not something produced by the child’s own body.

Medical staff also reported seeing an injection site on the child’s foot that was not bandaged, which was unusual because injections are normally given on the sole of the foot and bandaged after.

The hospital alerted Iowa authorities, who obtained a search warrant to review video recordings and other evidence. Investigators reviewed medical records, lab tests, witness statements, and hospital video footage in the child’s room.

Witnesses included medical professionals who saw the child’s symptoms worsen, and hospital staff who saw the parent alone with the child during periods of iIIness and noted when the child appeared calm before the injection and in distress afterwards.

After the abuse was confirmed, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services removed the toddler from the woman’s care. Once removed, the child no longer had problems with blood sugar or insuIin levels.

The defendant asked the court for a suspended sentence and probation, but those requests were denied. Judge agreed with the prosecutor’s recommendation that the two felony sentences be served consecutively, for a total of ten years in prison.