Arrested: Katie Lewis was caught on camera allegedly trying to suffocate her 5-month-old son
A mother who claimed her new born son repeatedly stopped
breathing was caught on a hidden camera in hospital allegedly trying to
suffocate her baby.
Katie Lewis had rushed her five-month-old son to hospital
telling doctors the child would stop breathing, turn blue and then regain
consciousness.
Staff at the Children's Hospital in St Paul, Minnesota,
arranged for the child to be placed under observation for 24 hours in a room
fitted with a video and audio monitoring system.
They also performed a series of tests but could find no
evidence to support 24-year-old Lewis's claims about her baby
.
Lewis was told her son was being released from hospital as
doctors could find nothing wrong.
Staff reportedly became suspicious when Lewis insisted there
was still something wrong with her baby.
As a nurse watched on a video monitor Lewis allegedly tried
to smother her son.
She picked up her son, pinched his nose and held her hand
over his to cut off his airways, a report says.
According to an arrest report the boy kicked frantically and
after 45 seconds went limp and unresponsive in his mother arms.
When medical staff rushed into the room, Lewis told them,
'His heart rate went down and he turned blue.'
Police were called to the hospital and in an interview with
detectives Lewis said she 'wanted to do something' so that medical staff would
help her child.
She also admitted she 'snapped' due to the stress and
frustration of bringing up her children.
Lewis allegedly admitted to stopping her son from breathing
on several occasions from February 12th.
She said she was familiar with CPR and knew how little
pressure was needed to cut off her baby's oxygen supply.
The young mother was charged with child endangerment,
domestic assault by strangulation and third-degree assault.
Prosecutors praise the quick thinking hospital staff.
'This is a sad and terrifying act by a mother against her
infant son,' said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.
'Thankfully, a quick-acting hospital staffer stepped in to
stop the assault, and now the infant is in good condition and in a secure
location.'
In a statement from the director of the Minnesota Children’s
Resource Center at Children’s Hospital a spokesman said the infant sustained
'substantial bodily harm.'
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