'She had no remorse': Mother, 22, who admitted to poisoning baby with HAND SANITIZER to 'end his suffering' is sentenced to 40 years in prison

  • Erika Wigstrom, 22, told police she injected hand sanitizer into her 17-month-old son's feeding tube 'to end his suffering' in January 2014
  • 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 in March 2014 that she was the one who injected the boy with rum, only she now said it was perfume - she also confessed to injecting the baby with hand sanitizer
  • Wigstom pleaded guilty to killing the little boy on Tuesday and was given 40 years in prison

By Joshua Gardner and Kiri Blakeley For Dailymail.com

Published: 12:38 EST, 18 September 2015 | Updated: 00:49 EST, 19 September 2015


A 22-year-old Lousiana mother who confessed to killing her ill 17-month-old son by injecting his feeding tube with Germ-X brand hand sanitizer was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Tuesday.

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 judge handed down the harshest sentence possible: 40 years in prison without probation. By pleading guilty to manslaughter, Wigstrom escaped first-degree murder charges, according to the Washington Post.

The boy's father, Cesar Ruiz, had confessed to a similar poisoning of 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, 2014, Wigstrom revealed it was actually she who was behind the first attempt at killing little Lucas Ruiz and she'd used perfume, not rum.

Police eventually decided that Cesar Ruiz had likely given a false confession to protect Wigstrom, and he was spent more than a year in jail before his family posted his bond. 

Upon his release he was ordered to pay $850 in fines and fees, according to the New York Daily News. 

Scroll down for video...

Confessed: Erika Wigstrom, 22, told police 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

Confessed: Erika Wigstrom, 22, told police 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

17-month old ucas Ruiz (left) was killed by his mother; his father, Cesar (right) was originally jailed for a previous attempt at his life, but was eventually cleared 

One-year-old Lucas died back on January 24, 2014 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. 

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, they 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

The story changes: After police determined that Lucas had been murdered, they 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

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

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 that she'd caused that, too, only it was perfume, not rum.

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.

That story eventually fell apart and police say that Wigstrom took credit for that original attempt at killing her baby as well.  

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

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

In April 2014, 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.

But she eventually confessed in March 2014.  

Wigstrom will have no chance at parole. 

Comments (49)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now