Attempted murder charge against mom in fecal injection case

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A prosecutor charged a northwestern Indiana woman with attempted murder Friday after she told police she injected fecal matter into her son's IV tube while he was hospitalized for leukemia.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry filed the new charge against Tiffany Alberts, 41, of Wolcott, who had been charged Nov. 22 with six counts of aggravated battery and neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. She was released from the Marion County Jail on her own recognizance the following day.

Staff at Indianapolis' Riley Hospital for Children contacted police after the 15-year-old boy developed several infections and a nurse observed Alberts injecting his IV bag with an unknown substance, court documents say. Alberts told police she began injecting her son with fecal matter on Nov. 13 to get him moved from the intensive care unit to another unit where she thought he would receive better treatment.

During the period Alberts was allegedly injecting feces into her son's IV, the teen went into septic shock multiple times, once so severely that he had to be placed on a ventilator, documents say. He also required multiple surgeries.

The teen was in intensive care for 18 days and, due to the infections, doctors had to put his chemotherapy on hold for approximately two months, placing him at high risk of relapse in his leukemia, documents say.

A message seeking comment was left for one of Alberts' attorneys.