Mother Arraigned on Murder Charges After Refusing Child Meds
A mother plead not guilty Monday on attempted murder charges of refusing treatment for cancer on her 9 year old son, which eventually led to his death.
Prosecutors in Salem, Massachusetts described the accusations made against Kristen Labrie, age 37, but outlined no specifics on her purported motive for failing repeatedly to listen to doctors’ advice regarding medical care of her son, Jeremy Fraser.
The judge dictated that Labrie be remanded on $15,000 cash bail on charges of child endangerment, attempted murder and other charges. Eric Fraser, father of the child, stated that he was unaware of any religious conviction or any other feasible reason that would cause his ex-wife to refuse treatment to their son.
“I have no idea,” he reported Monday, prior to the defendant’s arraignment in Salem Superior Court.
LaBrie wagged her head in denial repeatedly as Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall maintained that she foundered in supplying prescriptions for her son and lied to his physicians, causing them to believe that she was doing what was necessary to salvage his young life. Jeremy Fraser passed away in March, at age 9.
Jeremy was diagnosed with a serious kind of autism at a young age. It was determined he also had non-Hodgkins lymphoma in October of 2006, but his physicians assigned him a 85% to a 90% chance of full recovery, MacDougall stated. The child went into remission after he was prescribed large amounts of chemotherapy treatments in the hospital. Afterwards, LaBrie was presented with prescriptions for medicines he would be administered at home.
Attorney General MacDougall reported that the boy’s mother failed to collect the prescriptions from the pharmacy, all the while deceiving the physicians into thinking they’d been filled, even requesting a liquid version of the prescriptions, as she stated her son was finding it hard to ingest the pills.
“Miss LaBrie never expressed any misgivings about the treatment,” MacDougall stated.
In February 2008, one of Jeremy’s physicians reportedly called the pharmacy and quickly found out that the prescriptions had never been filled. LaBrie maintained that the pharmacy must have erred, MacDougall reported. It was after that that the authorities found that the cancer had been restored to Jeremy’s body in the form of leukemia and was beyond chemotherapy treatment.
Kevin James, attorney at law to Kristen LaBrie, stated Monday, that LaBrie was a single mother with “severe financial problems” whom shouldered the severe burden of taking care of a very sick child.
“She is a victim. She is the mother who took care of her child,” James stated.
The boy’s father, Fraser, whom LaBrie stated within court documents failed to show for visits and offered no help with his medical care, stated that Jeremy was a joyful child, whom loved riding bikes and swimming.
Prior to LaBrie’s arraignment, he refused to comment about the case against her, except to state that, “I am relieved that it is moving forward.”
LaBrie could serve 40 years behind bars if she is pronounced guilty.
