Maggie Dixon
In what will come across as a really shocking development, a woman has been caught on camera trying to smother her son in hospital.
Maggie Dixon, a woman from North Carolina has been charged with attempted murder and child abuse after police say she was caught on camera repeatedly trying to smother her one-year-old son in his room at a Charlotte hospital, Daily Mail UK reports.
According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, nurses at Levine Children’s Hospital were watching their monitors Saturday night and noticed the boy had trouble breathing when his mother, 32-year-old Maggie Dixon, was alone with him.
An arrest report states that Dixon’s 12-month-old son was brought to the hospital suffering from respiratory problems. Investigators says the mother suspected her son had pneumonia, reported the station WSOC-TV.
WBTV reported that at around 11.25pm Saturday, medical staff summoned police after noticing ‘abnormalities’ in the young patient’s vital signs, including fluctuations in his breathing and oxygen levels, whenever his mother was alone with him in the room.
Investigators say when hospital workers reviewed surveillance video from the room, they saw Dixon try to suffocate the toddler four separate times within a span of 15 minutes using both her hands and a pillow.
The 32-year-old suspect was immediately removed from the room and taken in for questioning by police.
Dixon has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and felony child abuse inflicting serious injury. She remained in jail on $200,000 Monday, reported Laurinburg Exchange.
Prior to Saturday’s incident, police say there were no apparent signs that the boy had been subjected to abuse at home.
Authorities say the boy remains within the hospital with other family members. The Division of Social Providers will be helping with the investigation.
Once he is fully recovered, the toddler likely will be released into the custody of his father, who lives separately from Dixon.
