LUCAS RUIZ - 17 months/ Charged: Mother; Erika Wigstrom (murder, 2014) and Father; Cesar Ruiz (attempted murder, 2012) - Belle Chasse LA

Teenage father charged with attempted murder of son after 'pouring rum into two-month-old's hospital feeding tube'

• Cesar Ruiz, 19, allegedly fed his baby rum during his stay at Ochsner Hospital in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
  

By Laura Cox

PUBLISHED: 11:13 EST, 30 October 2012 | UPDATED: 12:42 EST, 30 October 2012




Charged: Cesar Ruiz, 19, allegedly fed his baby son with rum during his stay at hospital

A teenage father has been charged with attempted murder after pouring liquor into his two-month-old son's hospital feeding tube.

Cesar Ruiz, 19, allegedly pumped Lucas with rum during his stay at Ochsner Hospital in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, which he was admitted to with breathing difficulties on October 16.

The child was undergoing treatment ahead of surgery scheduled for Wednesday when on Sunday he began having seizures.

He was moved to the pediatric intensive care unit where doctors found him to have a blood alcohol level of .289, more than twice the 0.8 per cent
legal limit for driving in Louisiana.

Ruiz confessed to the crime, explaining that he acted to relieve his son's suffering and did not intend to kill him, police said.

He told officers he had taken a feeding tube from the hospital when he left to go home and shower and filled it up with rum before returning.

The baby's mother, Erika Wigstrom, said she had noticed a bottle of Bacardi Silver Rum in the freezer on Saturday night, that had not been there a few hours later.

He is believed to be in a stable situation.




Lucas Ruiz was undergoing treatment at Ochsner Hospital (pictured) in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, when he suffered from acute alcohol poisoning

A family friend told wwltv.com: 'This is a beautiful little boy. He deserves to live. Pray for him.'

Doctorssaid the brain doesn't finish developing until the mid-twenties, so exposure to alcohol earlier than that can cause behavior and growth problems for life.

'We don't know what is a safe level for a child,' Dr Gershanik told the news site. 'Tinniest amount of alcohol can be deadly, so why to take a chance?'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225319/Teenage-father-charged-attempted-murder-son-pouring-rum-month-olds-hospital-feeding-tube.html#ixzz2Aoq27IBw

Mother poisons baby with HAND SANITIZER to 'end his suffering': 20-year-old admits to killing son who had Downs syndrome...and she'd tried it before with PERFUME

Erika Wigstrom, 20, told police she injected hand sanitizer into her 17-month-old son's feeding tube 'to end his suffering'
Wigstrom's son Lucas Ruiz suffered from Down's syndrome and a heart defect that required many hospital visits
In October 2012, Lucas suffered seizures and brain damage after rum was injected into his feeding tube
The baby's father Cesar Ruiz was charged with the crime after Wigstrom reported the liquor was missing from their freezer
Wigstrom confessed Tuesday that she killed the baby and that she was the one who injected it with rum in 2012

By Joshua Gardner
PUBLISHED: 23:32 EST, 12 March 2014  | UPDATED: 05:07 EST, 13 March 2014

A 20-year-old Lousiana mother confessed to police Tuesday to killing her ill 17-month-old son by injecting his feeding tube with Germ-X brand hand sanitizer.

Erika Wigstrom told police she did it to 'end his suffering,' after the boy was born with Down's syndrome and a serious heart defect.

The boy's father Cesar Ruiz, 20, is already behind bars after a similar attempt to kill the baby in October 2012 in which rum was injected into his feeding tube, causing him seizures and brain damage.

In her interview with police March 11, Wigstrom revealed it was actually she who was behind the first attempt at killing little Lucas Ruiz and she'd used perfume, not rum.


Confessed: Erika Wigstrom, 20, told police Tuesday that she killed her 17-onth-old son who suffered from Down's syndrome and heart defects by injecting his feeding tube with Germ-X brand hand sanitizer


It's happened before: Lucas Ruiz, left, died from acute alcohol intoxication in January. It was the second time he'd been poisoned with alcohol. The first time, he was just 2 months old and his father Cesar Ruiz, right, confessed he did it to ease the infant's pain. He claimed he didn't mean to kill or hurt Lucas.

One-year-old Lucas died back on January 24 from acute alcohol intoxication, reports the Times-Picayune.

That's when police were called to a home in Belle Chasse, where they found the child 'breathless and pulseless.'

He was rushed to a hospital in New Orleans, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

An autopsy was performed and found the boy's blood alcohol level to be 0.280.

'The legal limit in Louisiana is .08 so that would mean almost four and a half times the legal limit,' Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office Cmdr. Eric Becnel told WVUE.

The autopsy results were revealed earlier this month and police then interviewed Wigstrom on Tuesday.

She reportedly told them she'd injected Lucas feeding tube with the alcohol-heavy hand sanitizer, but that he didn't die until a day later.


The story changes: After police determined that Lucas had been murdered, the interviewed Wigstrom. After confessing to killing her son to 'end his suffering,' she told police she'd been the one who tried it in 2012, not Ruiz. She also revealed she'd given the boy perfume in an attempt to kill him, not rum


Putting on an act? Wigstrom's confession may come as a surprise to anyone who saw a local news segment shot in spring of 2013 when she called out Lucas's father for harming their child and described the heartache she felt as he suffered seizures in her arms


Four times the legal limit: Lucas had a hole in his heart and was in and out of the hospital. He also reportedly had three holes in his heart. His BAC at the time of death was .280

On top of the horrific suffering Lucas must have endured in the hours before his death, he'd already suffered seizures and brain damage after rum was dumped into his feeding tube as he lay in the hospital in October 2012 undergoing treatment for his heart defect.

Wigstrom told police on Tuesday that she'd caused that, too.

Lucas's father had confessed to the poisoning at the time and said he'd done it, not to kill him, but to ease his suffering.

He remained behind bars just as Wigstrom was admitting to police it had been her all along.

'From what I gathered from the detectives, they basically said she had no remorse,' said Cmdr. Becnel.


At peace: Lucas suffered seizures and brain damage after the 2012 attempt on his life. He also survived for a day before dying from the hand sanitizer poisoning early this year. He died January 24

But the young mother was singing a far different tune while Lucas was still in her care.

Just last April, Wigstrom told WWLTV of the trauma she endured as Lucas suffered from the rum poisoning and of how it caused a rift between her and the baby's father.

'That baby had a seizure in that hospital bed with me and all the nurses and the ICU doctors standing around his bed, for 58 minutes. I talked to that baby the entire time, trying to get him to come back to me,' she said last year.

'Right now, I have no relationship with him. I do not desire a relationship with him. I will never have a relationship with him,' Wigstrom said.

Cesar Ruiz was charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile, but it remained unclear just after Wigstrom's arrest whether he'd still stand trial.

Wigstrom, however, will stand trial. And at a bond hearing Wednesday, she broke down in tears as her charge was read: first degree murder.

'With the evidence and the age of the child, we believe we have a strong case,' Becnel said.

He also marveled in disbelief at the case.

'It's a tragic situation. I don't know what goes through someone's head, to harm a 17-month-old. I have a 19-month-old myself, and I couldn't put it in my system to do something like that,' he said.

No bond was set for Wigstrom. She faces life in prison if convicted.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2579794/Mother-poisons-baby-HAND-SANITIZER-end-suffering-20-year-old-admits-killing-son-Downs-syndrome-shed-tried-PERFUME.html

Even if the little angel had Down Syndrome you don't kill it.  Plenty of people have Down Syndrome and lead normal productive lives.  Poor little angel did not have a chance.  William

What an evil woman.  At least her breeding days are over.

Sheriff: Mother injects hand sanitizer, perfume in feeding tube of 17-month-old

Posted: Mar 12, 2014 5:13 PM CST
Updated: Mar 13, 2014 10:17 AM CST
Posted by Amber Stegall

BELLE CHASSE, LA (WAFB) -  A Belle Chasse, La. mother was arrested after admitting she injected hand sanitizer and perfume into the feeding tube of her 17-month-old son, killing him, according to the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office.


Erika Wigstrom (Source: Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office)

On January 27, 2014, Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office (PPSO) detectives were contacted by Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (JPSO) detectives about the death of 17-month-old Lucas Ruiz. Lucas died on Friday, January 24, 2014.

On the 24th, just after midnight, PPSO deputies and EMS responded to a home in the 100 block of XI Street in Belle Chasse. Reports say Ruiz was not breathing and did not have a pulse.

Lucas was taken to Oschner Hospital in Gretna and then to Children's Hospital in New Orleans. When he arrived in New Orleans, Lucas was pronounced dead and an autopsy was performed.

On March 7, 2014, the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office provided an autopsy report that indicated Lucas' blood alcohol content level was approximately.280 g/%. Lucas' cause of death was determined to be acute ethanol intoxication and the manner of death was homicide.

PPSO detectives met with JPSO detectives about Lucas' death, as well as the investigation of Cesar Ruiz, Lucas' father. Cesar was arrested for a prior poisoning incident of Lucas that happened on October 27, 2012.

Cesar is accused of poisoning Lucas with rum while he was awaiting open heart surgery at Ochsner Hospital in Jefferson.

Cesar allegedly confessed to Lucas' poisoning and was arrested by JPSO detectives for attempted 1st degree murder. On February 7, 2013, Cesar was charged in a bill of information in Jefferson Parish for the crime of 2nd degree cruelty to a juvenile. His case is pending in Jefferson Parish 24th Judicial District Court.

On Monday, March 11, 2014, PPSO Detectives interviewed Lucas' mother, 20-year-old Erika Wigstrom. During the interview, Wigstrom confessed to injecting hand sanitizer in Lucas' feeding tube before feeding him on January 23, 2014. Wigstrom also admitted to injecting perfume into Ruiz's feeding tube, while Lucas Ruiz was being treated at Ochsner Hospital in Jefferson on October 16, 2012.

Wigstrom told detectives that Cesar Ruiz was not the person who poisoned Lucas during that incident and that she in fact was the person who injected and poisoned him. Wigstrom informed investigators that she injected alcohol into Lucas' feeding tube on both occasions because she didn't want Lucas Ruiz to suffer any longer.

Wigstrom was arrested and booked with 1st degree murder. She appeared for a magistrate hearing Wednesday and no bond was set.

Wigstrom is currently incarcerated at the Belle Chasse Lockup.

http://www.wsfa.com/story/24959056/sheriff-mother-charged-with-the-poisoning-death-of-17-month-old-son