An infant reportedly went into cardiac arrest at an Ohio hospital after her mother allegedly injected her with an unknown substance. Stephanie Whitley, 26, was with her 9-month-old daughter and husband at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus when staff reportedly saw the mother injecting the child, who became critically ill.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that hospital staff took the infant, Kaylee, from Whitley and brought her to the intensive care unit. Hospital personnel performed CPR after the infant went into cardiac arrest. Police arrested Whitley, and now social media posts from those who know her allege that the mother has a history of disturbing behavior.
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Kaylee was sick.
Screenshots from Whitley's Facebook page tell a story about Kaylee's health. She was reportedly hospitalized in September 2022 and diagnosed with neonatal lupus erythematosus, a rare genetic autoimmune disorder. At the time of the diagnosis, Whitley wrote that her daughter would have trouble fighting even the most common ailments like a cold.
She also claimed her daughter was allergic to sunlight. "She can fight through this and possibly eventually grow out of these symptoms and live a normal happy life after the first year of life," Whitley wrote.
While at the hospital, Whitley seemed unhappy with Kaylee's care.
Additional screenshots from Whitley's Facebook page show the young mother's apparent displeasure with the hospital where her baby was treated. Whitley posted shots from the medical app MyChart with doctors' and nurses' notes. She expressed frustration with nurses and how they wanted her to care for her daughter versus what she, as the mother, felt was right.
Some claim CPS turned a blind eye to the situation.
People claiming to know the young mother filled the comment section on the ABC 13 Facebook page, alleging that she is not innocent.
"She needed help a long time ago and unfortunately I suspected this was happening. I'm so sad to see that my fears are true," someone wrote. "I feel for her sweet children and hope they get justice for all that they have endured. It is so sad that the system has failed yet again."
"What's even more sad is CPS has been called on her for years and we've all been saying she's been making her children sick," another person claimed. "No one has done anything until she finally got caught & thank God she did."
"People have WARNED child services and etc about her actions. Yet, a blind eye was turned. Sounds like child services should be in trouble as well," another person agreed.
Was Whitley making her daughter sick?
Some say that Whitley allegedly made her daughter sick for attention. Although it has not been determined if that is the case, it could be due to a mental illness called factitious disorder imposed on another, once known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. FDIA is a mental illness in which a person acts as if an individual they are caring for has a physical or mental illness when the person is not sick, the Cleveland Clinic explains.
The condition often goes unnoticed, but it is estimated about 1,000 of the 2.5 million annual child abuse cases in in the United States are related to the disorder.
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Doctors are waiting on toxicology reports.
Kaylee remains in the critical care unit, where doctors performed tests to determine the substance her mother injected her with, according to the Dispatch. Those results are unknown at this time.
Whitley was arrested on Friday and taken into custody, charged with felonious assault. Her husband, who was in the room at the time of the incident, was not charged. She is due in court May 15, according to the news outlet.
The investigation is ongoing, and police ask anyone with information to contact Detective Andre Edwards of the Columbus Police Special Investigations Child Abuse Unit at 614-645-4305 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS(8477).
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
