Her 17-month-old son’s obituary read the boy died “while cradled in the arms of his beloved mother”, but the truth was something far more tragic.
Lucas Ruiz, who was born with Down syndrome and a heart defect, was killed by his mother in an effort to end his suffering, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Throughout her pregnancy the then 18 -year-old, Erica Wigstrom, appeared to dote on her child. Her excitement at the pregnancy was evident in her social media feeds as she proudly displayed her baby bump.
It wasn’t until her “little prince” was born that Erica realised his life would not be a fairytale, and neither would hers.
Her son was born with Down Syndrome and had holes in his heart. Although one could be fixed with surgery, the other would be a lifelong disability.
As Lucas awaited the necessary heart surgery in October 2012, he began having mysterious seizures.
His doctors discovered the baby had a blood alcohol level of 0.289: 3.5 times the legal driving limit for an adult. His teenage father, Cesar Ruiz, initially said it was to relieve his son’s pain before he finally confessed to authorities that he was trying to kill the boy.
Although Cesar Ruiz was sent to prison for second-degree cruelty to a child, the baby was still not safe from harm.
In January 2014 the 17-month-old was rushed to hospital, breathless and pulseless, before being declared dead on arrival.
An autopsy revealed the boy had been killed by a lethal injection of hand sanitiser into his feeding tube, and his mother quickly confessed, telling authorities she did not want he boy to suffer any longer, and she did not regret her decision.
In a further turn of gruesome events, Erika then also confessed that it not the boy’s father who gave the boy the dangerous amounts of alcohol but her.
Instead of going to trial for murder, Wigstrom pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March 2014, and she received the maximum sentence of 40 years.
Cesar Ruiz was released from prison, but he must always live with the horror of what happened to his baby boy.
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