An Iowa mother was sentenced to a decade in prison for repeatedly injecting her toddler son with insulin to make him appear sick.
Alexandra Marie Frost, 26, pleaded guilty in June to to child endangerment and administering harmful substances charges, The Gazette reported, and returned to court on Friday for sentencing.
In courts, she asked for a suspended sentence and probation, but prosecutors recommended five years sentences for each count, to run consecutively, and that’s what Judge Mike Harris did.
Court documents say that Frost also asked to withdraw her guilty plea, but Harris denied that motion.
Frost’s 2-year-old son was brought to the University of iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital on March 13, 2023, according to a criminal complaint against the mother. Doctors determined the boy had low glucose levels and administered glucose to raise the levels. Then lab results indicated the child’s insulin levels were “very high.”
During his hospital stay, the boy’s glucose levels repeatedly dropped and then stabilized, initially baffling doctors, who eventually noted the drop in levels “appeared to be anomolies” and suspected the problem was caused by medical child abuse, formerly known as Munchhausen syndrome by proxy.
The day after the boy was admitted to the hospital, staff activated video camera in his room, an affidavit said. The video showed Frost going into the bathroom and coming out with what appeared to be a syringe, then injecting the syringe into the boy’s foot. The video showed her disposing of the syringe in the room’s “sharps” container.
After the injection, the toddler became agitated and screamed.
A doctor confirmed that the boy did not have a medical condition that would require insulin.
The state Department of Health and Human Services removed the toddler from Frost’s custody, and he had no more issues with his blood sugar or insulin levels.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Alexandra Marie Frost/Johnson County Detention Center]
