Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Colorado mom charged in daughter's death

coming up in this news 5 investigates special report she was a loving child had a great imagination loved playing with her dolls a young girl finds herself in a hospital battling a series of mysterious illnesses before passing away they saw olivia for over 1 000 hospital visits and hospitalizations now her mother is charged with murder accused of making up medical problems they performed over 25 unnecessary surgical procedures news 5 investigates found staff at children's hospital colorado had their suspicions that kelly renee turner may have been lying about her daughter's condition attorneys representing the little girl's family say the hospital failed to notify law enforcement or the department of human services until it was too late the state's mandatory reporting law should have protected olivia colorado's mandatory reporting law absolutely should have protected olivia and it didn't as olivia's mother awaits trial new questions over whether the hospital is partly responsible for the death of this seven-year-old i want answers we want the truth of why all this happened did a mother really do the unthinkable were there red flags that were missed olivia's family are absolutely committed to make sure that this never happens to another child one call could have saved that child's life we're looking into what investigators believe is a rare case of child abuse known as munchausen syndrome by proxy and the warning signs everyone can look out for [Music] hello everyone i'm chief investigative reporter eric ross how did a little girl mysteriously become so sick that she needed feeding tubes and an ileostomy bag to function for five years olivia gantt's mother had been taking her to children's hospital colorado for treatment olivia eventually passed away in 2017 and now four years later her mother is about to stand trial for her murder olivia's family believes children's hospital colorado should also be held accountable sending them a notice of intent to sue but just days before an official lawsuit was set to be filed we learned the hospital settled the case behind closed doors sister finger sister finger where are you she was a loving child had a great imagination she loved to talk and just just loved life you know she loved life loni gautreaux is olivia's step-grandfather when olivia was just two years old her mother kelly renee turner up and left texas with her two daughters and came to colorado but that didn't stop lonnie and his wife from coming to visit when they could she loved watching movies and she could watch a movie one time and the next time she watched it she could be saying word for word what the characters were saying that's just how smart she was you know olivia's medical records provided a road map for prosecutors in 2012 olivia was taken into children's hospital colorado's anschutz medical campus in aurora for the first time her mother claimed olivia was having trouble digesting food and was constipated doctors addressed the issue by removing a hardened stool from her colon but as time went on kelly kept bringing olivia back claiming she was unable or unwilling to eat normally we had no reason to believe that what kelly was telling us was not true because to us she was in the best care she could be under in 2014 olivia went in for surgery doctors rerouted her small intestine to bypass her large intestine so that waste went into a bag through a hole in her stomach the surgery relieved the constipation but turner continued reporting that olivia was still having digestive problems in less than a year olivia had three different types of feeding tubes installed and when turner said her daughter could not tolerate being fed that way doctors installed a tube to send nutrition through her veins a process known as tpn during the time olivia was at children's hospital turner convinced doctors to prescribe her daughter kepra an anti-seizure medication this despite medical reports showing doctors never actually witnessed olivia suffering from a seizure for years doctors continue treating olivia based heavily on statements turner was telling them then in 2017 olivia's mother made a do not resuscitate request to the hospital and told staff that she wanted to stop olivia's tpn the tube that was sending all of her nutrition through her veins doing so would kill olivia some medical staff opposed the do not resuscitate order and when that happened hospital staff assigned olivia a new doctor who agreed to sign off on the order olivia was discharged went into hospice care and died less than three weeks later two days before she died i was in the hospice and i was holding her little hand and she was on these heavy narcotics and the only thing they were giving her was popsicle juice you know and then toward the end on a sponge even and i was holding her hand and she opened her eyes and she recognized me immediately and says paw paw i'm hungry at the time lonnie said he was mad at this mysterious set of illnesses taking his granddaughter's life then a year and a half later olivia's mother is charged with her death multiple doctors on record telling investigators they believe olivia was never terminally ill to begin with lonnie says that made him sick to his stomach that put another dagger in my heart what was she thinking when i didn't do anything you know her mother said take a little popsicle juice on a sponge and put her on her lips and stuff you know but what was she thinking of me not giving her food or feeding her you know and that haunts me every single night since i found out she was not terminally ill and she wasn't even sick and they tortured her for five years it haunts me every single night coming up looking back now and having access to olivia's medical records were there any red flags that you see today that maybe went unnoticed a couple years ago we'll reveal what doctors told detectives plus the family's attorney is speaking up the records will show you red flag after red flag after red flag that olivia was able to eat that olivia was a healthy normal child they disregarded those red flags so what does the hospital have to say about all of this the answer when we return [Music] welcome back olivia's family doesn't want her life to be overshadowed or forgotten by her mother's upcoming murder case kelly turner's fate may soon rest in the hands of a jury and as that case is prepared for trial there's another element to this story we're talking about a multi-million dollar lawsuit against children's hospital colorado that was ultimately settled attorneys who started the lawsuit process by filing a notice of intent to sue believe the hospital failed to follow colorado's mandatory child reporting laws they believe olivia's death could have been prevented months or even years before she passed away three years after little olivia was buried lonnie and his family have lawyered up retaining the gold law firm to help get to the bottom of olivia's death which they believe was 100 percent preventable if only hospital staff had immediately contacted police or dhs we felt that we had an absolute duty to represent olivia's siblings olivia's grandparents and to make sure this never happens to another family the doctors in children's hospital treated olivia from 2012 to 2017 saw her for over 1 000 admissions performed over 25 unnecessary procedures on a healthy child the records will show you that olivia was able to eat that olivia was a healthy normal child that olivia was not sick that olivia's mother's complaints were unfounded one example they highlight is with olivia's mother giving her kepra a drug doctors say is used to treat seizures i know a neurologist ordered olivia's mother to stop giving her anti-seizure medication because there was no evidence that olivia was suffering from seizures so how was her mother still able to get a hold of that medication and administer it to olivia that needs to be investigated according to the arrest affidavit the same doctor who ordered turner to stop the seizure medication three separate times told investigators when interviewed after olivia's death that olivia was not a terminal patient investigators with the douglas county sheriff's office also conducted multiple other interviews with medical staff after olivia died one of those interviews involved an occupational therapist who specialized in feeding and eating she treated olivia and claims the girl graduated to age-appropriate foods had no problem swallowing or tolerating foods the doctor completed therapies with olivia without any problems investigators also spoke with two pediatric gastrointestinal doctors a pediatric gastrointestinal and liver specialist and director of gastroenterology all said olivia was not a terminal patient attorney holland hoskins says the red flag started years before olivia died in 2015 she says olivia was sent to boston's children's hospital for a second opinion with another doctor after she had multiple tubes and an ileostomy bag installed his recommendation was to reverse the ileostomy get her off the narcotics and that olivia could live a long normal life that report from boston children's hospital was sent to children's hospital treatments for olivia continued two years later another issue was documented this time inside children's hospital colorado in march of 2017 they caught olivia's mother red-handed in discarding the ileostomy bag once they caught her doing that they set up a one-on-one sitter to be in the room with olivia around the clock with her mother during that time period her condition improved once the one-on-one sitter was there shortly after that occurred hoskins says olivia's mom requested a do not resuscitate order for olivia dr thomas walker a pediatric gastroenterologist told investigators that all of olivia's symptoms and medical history came directly from turner and that olivia did not exhibit the symptoms turner had described most of the time dr walker found olivia to be very active social and fun and we later discovered he was one staff member who did report his concerns to the higher-ups at children's hospital unfortunately children's hospital's ethics team voted against dr walker and voted in favor of the mother and the care was transferred from dr walker to another doctor who agreed to sign the do not attempt resuscitation order problem is dr walker failed to pick up the phone make one call to the outside social services or law enforcement and that call would have saved olivia's life there were several nurses that actually went to children's hospital child protection team and the social worker team and made complaints that they believed medical child abuse was going on the children's hospital child protection team and social worker team determined that those suspicions did not rise to the level that needed to be reported to the outside social services agency but these nurses and doctors could have went to law enforcement or dhs on their own if they wanted to these individual nurses and doctors not only could have gone to the outside agencies and reported the child abuse they had a duty to report any suspicions of child abuse or medical child abuse to the authorities they are a mandatory reporter and they should have reported it to the outside agencies dr walker did not respond to our request for comment coming up we're digging into the motive investigators say fame money and sympathy may have led turner to do the unthinkable just how much money is turner accused of fraudulently collecting the answer when we return [Music] [Music] welcome back like other states colorado has mandatory reporting laws which require professionals like teachers emergency personnel and doctors to report suspected abuse but can an agency's own internal policies take precedent over state law records we obtain show the hospital discussed olivia's care internally but we found no evidence that the suspicions doctors had ever made it outside the hospital walls until after olivia died news 5 reached out to children's hospital to discuss olivia's care and specifically asked whether any policies or procedures have been modified as a result of this case after all if the same scenario were to happen again would the hospital report concerns to police or dhs a spokesperson would only say quote this is an incredibly complicated case and unfortunately federal hipaa laws and an ongoing criminal trial involving olivia's mother mean that we simply cannot comment on or share details related to olivia's care or this case if we could we are confident that the community would recognize and appreciate the deep sense of commitment and professionalism children's hospital colorado staff and university of colorado physicians bring to all of our patients that statement was sent to us prior to the hospital settling the civil case shifting our focus back to kelly renee turner how did she get caught court documents reveal it was only after kelly started bringing olivia's sister into children's hospital making complaints that she had prior cancer that she had bone pain and there was a concern that the cancer had returned that doctor picked up the phone and called olivia's and her siblings prior hospital and found out what the mother had been telling them about olivia's sibling and about olivia was untrue the next phone call was to outside social services hoskins says olivia's sister was removed from turner's care and placed with her grandparents meanwhile law enforcement started looking into turner's background after speaking with multiple doctors turner was indicted for first degree murder theft charitable fraud forgery and attempting to influence a public servant according to the arrest affidavit 161 donors contributed more than 22 thousand dollars through gofundme for olivia's care make a wish spent more than eleven thousand dollars to have a bat princess party for olivia at a local hotel she also got to be an honorary officer with the denver police department detectives also learned turner received more than 538-thousand dollars in medicaid benefits but that's nothing compared to the cost hoskins says the hospital billed for its series of treatments for olivia they build over 3 million dollars for treating a healthy child they used olivia to advertise and fundraise for their hospital still to come it's not easy holding it together believe me what olivia's grandfather is asking children's hospital to do and can you spot a suspected case of munchausen syndrome by proxy the warning signs you need to know about when we return [Music] welcome back olivia's step grandfather lonnie says while kelly renee turner needs to be held accountable so does the hospital i don't want this to ever happen to another kid and whatever it takes to get that policy change needs to be done one call could have saved that child's life olivia's body now rests in the seven stones chatfield cemetery a life taken way too soon in a tragedy that never should have happened even though all she knew was riding in ambulances staying in a hospital having tubes out of her body and on serious pain medications all the photographs and videos tell a story about a resilient young girl who still loved life loved being happy loved being the entertainer and olivia should be here today according to the cleveland clinic a non-profit american academic medical center munchausen syndrome by proxy is not always an easy issue to detect and some red flags don't become obvious until later on warning signs of possible medical child abuse include a parent or caregiver always reporting a mysterious illness or medical problem when no one else is around or disclosing medical issues that can never be witnessed or validated by doctors while in their care past cases of munch housing syndrome by proxy typically involve parents who have some type of medical background or knowledge in interviews with investigators turner brought up munchausen syndrome by proxy before detectives ever did also a lack of medical records or requesting more medical tests after previous tests yielded no problems should not be brushed off another red flag is when a mother or father all of a sudden switches doctors every time their current doctor questions their story or attempts to verify what they're being told now it's still unclear whether children's hospital colorado made any policy changes as a result of this case all we know is that the hospital ultimately settled the family's lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money back in september as for turner her trial has been delayed until february she currently sits behind bars in the douglas county jail where she was recently charged with more crimes related to contacting her surviving daughter which is a violation of her protection order turner has not responded to our request for comment meanwhile since olivia's sister has been out of turner's care lonnie says his granddaughter has had no cancer or any major medical issues to read more about this story and view the full indictment against turner we've posted it online at koaa.com thank you for watching this news 5 investigate special report and remember if you have a problem or issue you'd like me to look into call our 24-hour tip line at 719-228-6275 or send an email to news 5 investigates at koaa.com have a safe rest of the day and i look forward to seeing you throughout the week right here on news 5.

Channel: KOAA 5

Views: 1,520,678

Keywords: Kelly R. Turner, Lonnie Gautreau, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, Olivia Gant, eric ross, local news, news5 investigates

Id: O86GcHKao8s

Length: 21min 27sec (1287 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 30 2021