A mother charged with constantly injecting her 4-month-old
son with salt water will be transported to a state mental hospital after a
psychiatrist confirmed on Thursday that the woman was severely depressed.
Judge Jeffrey Manning requested Amber Brewington, 21, of Duck River, Tenn., to
stay no more than 90 days at Mayview
State Hospital
before returning to court.
Psychiatrist Christine Martone, who examined Brewington two
times, testified that Amber Brewington needs to be tested for Munchausen by
Proxy syndrome, in which a caregiver simulates or induces illness in others in
order to bring on sympathy. Christine Martone added that Brewington also
suffered from borderline personality disorder and admitted to have had suicidal
intentions.
Amber Brewington was indicted of deliberately poisoning her
son, Noah King, with salt water. She was arrested after a nurse at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh informed the police that she
had seen the mother disconnecting the infant’s feeding tube. Among other
crimes, she is charged with attempted homicide.
Furthermore, Amber Brewington allegedly reported that she had
injected her baby with salt water at least five times, including while he was hospitalized
and treated at Vanderbilt University Medical
Center in Nashville,
Tenn. Noah King was relocated on July 9 to the
Pittsburgh
hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.
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