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Woman Fatally Poisoned Her Baby With Salt In Twisted Plot To Get Her Husband Back
Kimberly Martines said she poisoned her daughter Peyton because she was the closest one to her at the time.
A South Carolina woman was sentenced to 30 years in prison for poisoning her baby daughter with salt in an attempt to get her husband back.
Kimberly Martines, 25, from Spartanburg County, was arrested in 2016 after her daughter, 17-month-old Peyton Martines, was rushed to the hospital with acute salt poisoning, according to WYFF in Greenville. Martines pleaded guilty to homicide by child abuse and was sentenced on Wednesday.
The baby was dehydrated and having a seizure, and had a temperature of 103.2 degrees. She died in the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit after her brain shut down, according to WHNS in Greenville.
Martines initially told police that Peyton and her twin sister got into a bag of salt left on a bookcase the night before. The twins were covered in salt, she said, but she gave them a bath before bed and assumed everything was fine. Police learned a different version of the story, however, when they interviewed Martines' 4-year-old son. He said he saw his mom feed one of the twins a spoonful of salt.
The boy told police what the spoon and the bag looked like, and when they searched the house they found the same bag of salt stuffed under a sofa cushion.
When they brought the new info to Martines, police said, she changed her story. She admitted to the crime and said she did it because she wanted to entice her estranged husband to come back home.
Police asked her why she poisoned Peyton specifically, and she told them it was because Peyton was closest to her at the time, according to WHNS.
Martines will have to serve 85 percent of her 30 year sentence before she's eligible for release.
[Photo: Spartanburg County Detention Center]
