SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) – A woman who admitted to feeding her baby daughter a lethal dose of salt to get her estranged husband to come home was sentenced to 30 years.
Seventh Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette announced the plea in a news release.
Kimberly N. Martines, 25, pleaded guilty to homicide by child abuse.
Prosecutors say she poisoned her 17-month-old baby girl named Peyton Martines.
The report says EMS responded to her home about 5:15 a.m. on July 31, 2016.
They say Peyton was severely dehydrated and appeared to be having a seizure.
Investigators determined she had a temperature of 103.2 and inflated sodium in her blood.
She died three days later in the pediatric ICU.
An autopsy showed clinical brain death secondary to a high concentration of sodium.
Martines initially said Peyton and her twin sister got into a bag of salt that was left on a bookcase the night before.
She said the twins covered themselves in salt, but she bathed them and put them to bed.
Her 4-year-old son told investigators he watched his mom feed his sister a full spoon of salt.
Investigators found a bag of salt under a sofa cushion after the boy described what happened.
Deputies said Martines changed her story when they confronted her.
She admitted to feeding the baby a tablespoon of salt in an attempt to get her estranged husband to come home, according to prosecutors.
When they asked her why she picked Peyton, she said it was because the girl was closest in proximity to her at the time.
“The overdose of salt caused Peyton’s brain to shut down,” Assistant Solicitor Jennifer Jordan said. “It was a senseless tragedy that was caused by someone who made a horrible choice.”
The solicitor says Martines will serve 85 percent of the sentence before she is eligible for release.
