Emily McDonald Made Her Daughter Sick

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Emily McDonald Made Her Daughter Sick

June 4, 2009 by Jaded

Filed under: Child Abuse, Child Endangerment, Contamination, Crime, Featured, Mugshot, Munchausen By Proxy, Tampering

Austin, Texas–Little Dakota was admitted to the hospital on April 15 with a high fever and a long history of chronic diarrhea. Dakota, who was born premature, has suffered health problems since infancy. Now, here she is, at 3-years-old, continuing to suffer–with a little help from her mom. For several weeks after her admission into the hospital, Dakota cycled from recovery to setback. Suspicions grew when Dakota began to suffer from serious infections caused by organisms found in feces. A surveillance camera was placed in her room. On Sunday, the tapes were reviewed.

On those tapes, Emily McDonald can be seen removing shit from her daughter’s diaper and smearing on the child’s Central Ventricular Line cap; that line goes directly into the girl’s bloodstream. Nice, mom. Real fucking nice. When questioned by detectives at the hospital, Emily admitted to wiping feces on the cap on five separate occasions, between April 15 and May 31, at the hospital. Did she know that feces in the bloodstream would make her daughter sick? Yes, she did. Was she aware that her actions could lead to the death of her child? Yep, she sure was.

Emily McDonald, 23, was arrested and charged with first-degree injury to a child, a felony. If convicted, she could face life in prison. Emily was released on $100,000 bond on Wednesday. She must wear an electronic monitoring device and an emergency protective order has been issued to keep her away from all three of her children. Comments from her attorney, Bob Phillips, made me LOFL, especially this one: “I believe that as the facts unfold, the impression people have of this young woman will change for the better.” Sure…whatever helps you sleep at night, Bill.

Source

The Johnsons Are Shitty People (dreamindemon.com)
Jerry and Donald Holland Neglected Their Mother (dreamindemon.com)
Whitney Kizart Felt Threatened (dreamindemon.com)

Tags: Austin, Dakota McDonald, Emily McDonald, feces in feeding tube, injury to a child, Munchausen By Proxy, Texas

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Comments

nadine

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
This bitch is EVIL and for some reason want HER own child DEAD
Well lets see this should not surprise me at all, Let the rapist go free on bond, let the baby killers out on bond too. why not????????????? those monitors really work, yeah, Hey bitch If I ever see your fucking face on the street i would love to HURT YOU which makes evil onto you as well and we will see how you feel so for her sake I hope I never see her. Bill, the attorney, why don't you take her into your home and watch her? huh????

rachaelbg

Her myspace http://www.myspace.com/blissfuldreamer

knotme

Attorney, Bob Phillips, unless you can administer mass amnesia to the entire public, I suggest you get real; on the other hand, Emily McDonald will need a miracle since she's got one of those dumb-ass lawyers who are only good at bragging and never fail to "fail" in the court of law.

mazzi

Munchausen by Proxy. It's a verifiable mental disorder, but no way should mama get away with it. Jail is probably not the answer, but serious psychiatric confinement for a long-ass time, loss of all parental rights, and mandatory sterilization would be appropriate. Of course, none of those WILL happen. That just makes me sick.

At least the hospital staff was familiar enough with the warning signs of Munchausens that they monitored the room. They probably saved the baby's life.

By the way - what a darling little girl. I hope she gets a good family and a chance.

2 boys mom in NC

What a precious little doll! Yep, she'll use Munchauson to get off. Stupid, evil bitch. She should be made to eat shit 3 times a day for the rest of her vile life.

TheImperialCerealKiller

Sweet- this evil cunt has a public Myspace with blog. And by the sounds of it, she was pretty bored with motherhood by 2005.

CassieMomma

I hope she doesn't get off, she shouldn't. Yes she obviously has munchauson, but that should be even more of a reason.....danger, danger, danger!!!! This sickens me, how selfish to want attention so much to make your child sick. You should burn in hell for that one! Precious little girl, I really hope she can make a full recovery and not remember too much of what happened to her.

captainhowdy

I replied to the thread in the forums. I am very familiar with this woman via her internet presence. She has blogged about her kids for a long time, and there has always been something "off" about her. It wouldn't surprise me if she had been trying to kill Dakota by putting feces into her IV, rather than just prolong her illness for attention. After all, what would possibly garner more attention than the tragic death of your chronically ill micro-preemie?

Ugh. Utterly disgusting.

sarabei

captainhowdy: I replied to the thread in the forums. I am very familiar with this woman via her internet presence. She has blogged about her kids for a long time, and there has always been something “off” about her. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had been trying to kill Dakota by putting feces into her IV, rather than just prolong her illness for attention. After all, what would possibly garner more attention than the tragic death of your chronically ill micro-preemie?Ugh. Utterly disgusting.

Did you get the impression she didn't want to be a mother, and was bored with it? She did go after the youngest after all....the others would be getting older, allowing her more freedom...what do you think?

knotme

There was a time in human history when evil was called evil; not some mental disorder. Furthermore, for all the religious bleeding-hearts that raise their hands in prayer at the words "Death Penalty", the 10 commandments say clearly: "Thou shalt not kill"; there is no list of mental disorders given as exception. God knows us best; He can't be fooled and lied to... there will be justice in the END. Take your mental disorders and shove em'!

Morbid

knotme: Furthermore, for all the religious bleeding-hearts that raise their hands in prayer at the words “Death Penalty”, the 10 commandments say clearly: “Thou shalt not kill”; there is no list of mental disorders given as exception.

Um, well in that case, wouldn't that also include the death penalty?

knotme

No, Morbid... there are enough scriptures that sanction "executions" .... such as one in Matthew 7 - "Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

tinkiegrrl

Long time lurker, first time commenter. She had a livejournal account as well. There's a lot of info about her at the following link, and probably elsewhere on livejournal. I remember reading a debate about her years ago, when Dakota was born. After her second child was born, she was told not to have more children. She went ahead with it anyway, knowing her child would be a micro-preemie with several problems. Now I know why...
http://community.livejournal.com/sf_drama/22422...

Zibarro

Munchausen syndrome by proxy
NOUN:
A psychological disorder in which a parent or other caregiver gains attention from medical professionals by repeatedly causing or fabricating disease symptoms in a child.This is NOT a curable "disease" because she is innately selfish, self-serving, self-centered and psychopathic. Therefore, prison is the only option here. Hospitals are supposed to operate to FIX people and make them whole again. This evil, sadistic, vile bitch cannot be fixed or made whole. She's never been whole. Hell, her blog is proof of that! "Poor me"... me, me, me!

QUOTE: "All I ever do now is school, take care of the kids, work, go to sleep. My days are completely borring now. If I had known 5yrs ago that this is what my life would be like, I would have definitely thought twice about some of my choices. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and my husband but nothing exciting ever happens in my life. How I crave the adventure that is now lacking."

Interestingly enough - seems all 3 of her kids fall into that "5 years of regret" window.

No matter HOW bad or boring things get for me - the ONE (or 3) things I never regret are my children. When asked if I would want to go back and change anything I have to say NO. Changing one thing in my past could mean I wouldn't have the 3 things in my present that mean the most to me. Bad times get better, boredom goes away - unless you're a selfish bitch who doesn't want her pity party to end.

Rot in hell whore. I pray this child survives, thrives and she and her siblings go on to have happy, normal lives - never having to see or hear about this monster again.

Morbid

knotme - too funny.

Zibarro

tinkiegrrl: Long time lurker, first time commenter. She had a livejournal account as well. There’s a lot of info about her at the following link, and probably elsewhere on livejournal. I remember reading a debate about her years ago, when Dakota was born. After her second child was born, she was told not to have more children. She went ahead with it anyway, knowing her child would be a micro-preemie with several problems. Now I know why… http://community.livejournal.com/sf_drama/2242276.html

Do I have to join to read - or has she deleted all her entries (as was done with the "Dakota's Livejournal"? That would suck considering there were nearly 2,000 entries!

Thanks for the link tho. Welcome to the site! There's always one story that will bring the "lurkers" out to post - glad you finally joined in!

proudmom3boys

i will never understand a mothers free will to hurt her chid.... never

captainhowdy

Sarabei--I think she was more fond of the attention than sick of the kids, but I didn't know her personally--just what she presented via her online persona. She really seemed to thrive off of the pity and prayers, as well as the numerous gifts and the cash that people gave them. Seems like someone was ALWAYS sending them baby clothes, toys, etc. However, they did discover that in addition to the host of problems Dakota faces as a micro-preemie, she also had some chromosome deletions. Even if she could overcome all of the issues related to her being born so prematurely, there's nothing you can do to change a chromosomal problem. So, it would appear Emily was either doing this solely for the attention, because as long as Dakota was sick, she knew that people would continue to pay her lots of it...or she was really tired of having to deal with her daughter's plethora of health problems, and wanted to find a way out. After all, Dakota faces life-long challenges both as a result of being premature, and as a result of the chromosomal issues. Of course, now that her mother is no longer poisoning her blood with her own shit, I'm sure her odds have improved greatly. :o/

As far as her focusing on Dakota and not the other two, again, it could either be because Dakota being a micro-preemie made it easier to explain away any mysterious health problems...and also to cause them I'm sure...or, it could be because she knew that Dakota was always going to be sick and require lots of care due to her special needs. Either she knew she could make the wee one sick and get attention, or she knew that the wee one would never get better and she wanted to kill her, and figured no one would suspect that she'd done it. I guess no one really knows the answer to that except Emily.

Either way, this is just fucking sick. Munchausen-by-proxy is one of the things that really just boggles my mind. I have read a lot about it and have seen a couple of news specials on it, too. Really, really twisted shit! My daughter was briefly hospitalized once for an illness, and it was incredibly fucking traumatic for both of us. It still bothers me and makes me feel guilty to this day, even though I had nothing to do with it. I can't IMAGINE causing her that kind of pain intentionally!!!

tinkiegrrl

Zibarro: Do I have to join to read - or has she deleted all her entries (as was done with the “Dakota’s Livejournal”? That would suck considering there were nearly 2,000 entries!Thanks for the link tho. Welcome to the site! There’s always one story that will bring the “lurkers” out to post - glad you finally joined in!

Thanks for the welcome. I don't think you have to join to read the link I provided. As for her journal, even if you joined, I believe much of it was private, for friends only anyway. The comments on the link provides some background on her and some of the drama surrounding her before she did this. She was definately attention seeking. What drew me out of lurking was the fact that she was one of those holier then thou parents, who claimed that feeding a baby formula was like feeding them poison. Meanwhile, she was doing this to her daughter.

sarabei

captainhowdy: Sarabei–I think she was more fond of the attention than sick of the kids, but I didn’t know her personally–just what she presented via her online persona. She really seemed to thrive off of the pity and prayers, as well as the numerous gifts and the cash that people gave them. Seems like someone was ALWAYS sending them baby clothes, toys, etc. However, they did discover that in addition to the host of problems Dakota faces as a micro-preemie, she also had some chromosome deletions. Even if she could overcome all of the issues related to her being born so prematurely, there’s nothing you can do to change a chromosomal problem. So, it would appear Emily was either doing this solely for the attention, because as long as Dakota was sick, she knew that people would continue to pay her lots of it…or she was really tired of having to deal with her daughter’s plethora of health problems, and wanted to find a way out. After all, Dakota faces life-long challenges both as a result of being premature, and as a result of the chromosomal issues. Of course, now that her mother is no longer poisoning her blood with her own shit, I’m sure her odds have improved greatly. :o/As far as her focusing on Dakota and not the other two, again, it could either be because Dakota being a micro-preemie made it easier to explain away any mysterious health problems…and also to cause them I’m sure…or, it could be because she knew that Dakota was always going to be sick and require lots of care due to her special needs. Either she knew she could make the wee one sick and get attention, or she knew that the wee one would never get better and she wanted to kill her, and figured no one would suspect that she’d done it. I guess no one really knows the answer to that except Emily. Either way, this is just fucking sick. Munchausen-by-proxy is one of the things that really just boggles my mind. I have read a lot about it and have seen a couple of news specials on it, too. Really, really twisted shit! My daughter was briefly hospitalized once for an illness, and it was incredibly fucking traumatic for both of us. It still bothers me and makes me feel guilty to this day, even though I had nothing to do with it. I can’t IMAGINE causing her that kind of pain intentionally!!!

I know....I can't imagine doing something like t hat to an yone I love!! Will Dakota ever be able to live normally if she recovers from this?? She is such a beautiful baby!! BLess her!!

silvahalo

"According to McDonald's essay for the American-Statesman, the child weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces when she was born and was in critical condition at one point.
After going home, the child underwent three surgeries, four hospital stays and "too many doctors visits and tests to count," the essay said.
"Feeding continues to remain a struggle and she's still 100 percent tube fed," the essay said...."
How this poor child has survived this long is beyond me. She's a fighter no doubt on that. I hope she never has to lay eyes on this bitch of a mother again. It's so sad, this mother is all she knows. She loves her. She has no real idea that this woman she calls mother is her tormentor and leading was leading her to death, all she knows is this is mama, and she loves her....such a lovely child.

Stupid, depraved woman. She doesn't deserve such a precious gift.

So sorry sweet Dakota....heal completely and be happy sweet one.

tinkiegrrl

Here are some of her livejournal blog entries. I don't think you have to join to read.

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/themcdonaldfive/

She's deleting all of her friends and entries.

Wildheart

Zibarro:
I love my kids and my husband but nothing exciting ever happens in my life. How I crave the adventure that is now lacking.”

Guess she got her wish.....hope she enjoys the new "excitement" and "adventure" in her life.

I don't really know much about Munchausen, other than what I've seen on TV, but don't the mothers usually vehemently deny the act even when presented with irrefutable evidence? It seems like she admitted it pretty quickly. If I were the prosecutor, that might be something I'd point out and have an expert testify on when she tries to plead not guilty by reason of mental defect.

captainhowdy

If only we lived in a world where she'd never have to know that the Mama she cried for, trusted implicitly and loved unconditionally, wanted to be held and rocked by when she was in pain, was the very person causing her pain and suffering. What a total trust-killer...to have to one day be confronted with the fact that your own mother was poisoning you. How could you ever form healthy attachments again? Such a shame that this little one has been put through all of this hell, and will have to continue to go through hell when she realizes that her own MOTHER was doing this to her!

I just can't get this one out of my head. I seriously can't get over the shock of this being someone whose blog I've followed in the past, and who is in my city!! I cannot IMAGINE the thought process that would lead someone to take the CV tube from a defenseless baby and smear it in SHIT, knowing full well that it is going directly into her bloodstream. How, how, HOW could you do that? What in the world could have been going through her head while she was planning to do that, and while she was actually doing it? I have to admit, it fascinates me as well as repulses me. God damn, there are some defective humans out there.

TheImperialCerealKiller

Okay, so all of her kids were preemies? Curious. I wonder if maybe she had anything to do with that? Is there a way to induce labour early, without alarming the doctors? Did Emily have some kind of medical condition that would cause her to deliver prematurely? Maybe the first preemie got her so much attention that she *helped* speed the other births along somehow? Wouldn't put it past her.....

April

The pic of that baby makes me sad. I just want to wrap my arms around her and love her.

*sigh*

TheImperialCerealKiller

Interesting- she describes the circumstances of her daughter's birth. It does sound a little fishy, but I guess we'll never know:

With my next baby we knew there was an increased risk of preterm labor however the doctors were very optimistic that we could make it to term with good monitoring and lots of bed rest. Everything seemed relatively normal and at 20 weeks I started receiving progesterone shots to help relax my uterus and prevent preterm labor. I saw my obstetrician and perinatologist on a weekly basis to stay on top of everything.

At 21weeks I started bleeding heavily and was admitted into the NICU with a "partial placenta abruption" diagnosis. I was released within a few days on bed rest and was also sent home with oral terbutaline due to the regular contractions I was enduring during the hospital stay. I continued to bleed heavily and by 23 weeks the medication was no longer making any difference in my contractions. At 24 weeks my water broke and I was admitted into the hospital and once again given steroid injections. I went into labor despite medication at 24 w6d. Despite the VBAC I had planned, I was put under
general anesthesia and Dakota was born via classical incision due to her cord prolapsing and going into severe distress. She was born just 2 hours after I hit 25 weeks into my pregnancy.

curethispain

April: The pic of that baby makes me sad. I just want to wrap my arms around her and love her. *sigh*

She is a little beauty, I agree. The livejournal link has TONS of photos of the little angel. I've been reading it all and I can't even fathom how this woman could do this to her.

CassieMomma

I just read some of her blog entries......I am just amazed at what someone writes while they are trying to kill their child. I can't stop shaking my head. You know a woman I work with child is really sick, they have been in the hospital for some time now. As a friend and co worker we have tried to do as much as we can so I understand where everyone was coming from trying to help this woman and her family. How let down, but relieved they must feel. Sick, sick bitch!

April

curethispain: She is a little beauty, I agree. The livejournal link has TONS of photos of the little angel. I’ve been reading it all and I can’t even fathom how this woman could do this to her.

She's evil - There is no other explaination. Evil to the core.

tinkiegrrl

curethispain: She is a little beauty, I agree. The livejournal link has TONS of photos of the little angel. I’ve been reading it all and I can’t even fathom how this woman could do this to her.

No one who followed that blog can. Several people from livejournal and mothering.com sent her and her daughter money and gifts throughout the years. From what I'm reading around livejournal, the theory is that Dakota started getting better, and Emily started missing that attention she had while Dakota was in NICU. One of the news articles I've seen says Emily admitted to the police that she did it for attention. It's twisted, sick and yes, evil. It's fairly evident she knew right from wrong. She took a great deal of time chastising other parents in online communities for doing what she viewed as wrong. I hope she doesn't think she'll get off with an insanity plea.

April

tinkiegrrl: I hope she doesn’t think she’ll get off with an insanity plea.

I hope she gets put in general population - imagine all of the women in jail that would give anything to see their children. My guess is she won't be making many friends.

curethispain

tinkiegrrl: No one who followed that blog can. Several people from livejournal and mothering.com sent her and her daughter money and gifts throughout the years. From what I’m reading around livejournal, the theory is that Dakota started getting better, and Emily started missing that attention she had while Dakota was in NICU. One of the news articles I’ve seen says Emily admitted to the police that she did it for attention. It’s twisted, sick and yes, evil. It’s fairly evident she knew right from wrong. She took a great deal of time chastising other parents in online communities for doing what she viewed as wrong. I hope she doesn’t think she’ll get off with an insanity plea.

Evil doesn't begin to describe what she did to her daughter. I hate when my kids are sick or hurt...because of the attention factor. As a young mother of 4, I'm always afraid that someone will think I did something wrong. Paranoia, its true, but it stems from literally being interrogated at a local Walmart because my daughter had a bruise on her cheek from fighting with her sister. This article made me physically sick to my stomach.

tinkiegrrl

April: I hope she gets put in general population - imagine all of the women in jail that would give anything to see their children. My guess is she won’t be making many friends.

General population over pyshc ward for sure. This whole thing is mind boggling to me. Though I never followed her blog, I knew her from several communities we were both a part of. I mostly just lurk in livejournal as well, but I remember reading a debate some other mothers had with her over her decision to have a third child when she was told not to. She knew Dakota would have problems before she got pregnant. In hindsight.... I just think it's especially sick that she could have gotten pregnant for no other reason then to cash in on the attention she'd get from it.

zoloftn151

"Comments from her attorney, Bob Phillips, made me LOFL, especially this one: “I believe that as the facts unfold, the impression people have of this young woman will change for the better.” Sure…whatever helps you sleep at night, Bill."

Bill, Bob, whatever you want to call this "Lawyer".... He must suffer from Insomnia. This woman is gone.

Jo_momma_82

I read an article once about women who purposely induce premature labor for attention i.e. knitting needle to break amniotic sac, dehydration, castor oil, etc... I'm wondering if she purposely caused the premature birth of her daughter & possibly her other prematurely born children.

While I was pregnant with my youngest son, my dr. mentioned stripping my membranes to get "things moving" and I googled it to find out what that entailed and I found several "how-to's" on stripping your own membranes... I'm only saying this to let you guy's know that that kinda' info is not hard to find.

tinkiegrrl

Jo_momma_82: I read an article once about women who purposely induce premature labor for attention i.e. knitting needle to break amniotic sac, dehydration, castor oil, etc… I’m wondering if she purposely caused the premature birth of her daughter & possibly her other prematurely born children. While I was pregnant with my youngest son, my dr. mentioned stripping my membranes to get “things moving” and I googled it to find out what that entailed and I found several “how-to’s” on stripping your own membranes… I’m only saying this to let you guy’s know that that kinda’ info is not hard to find.

She didn't have to induce. Doctors told her she would have a micro-preemie if she got pregnant again. She has a misshapen uterus and an incompetent cervix.

mazzi

The more I read what this woman wrote, the more sick I get. You can read in her posts - she was getting OFF on all this medical stuff, like she thought she was a flipping doctor or something. (Don't Munchausens cases usually have some peripheral medical background?)

Towards the end, the docs were not "consulting" her enough and she sounds like a fucking junkie who can't get a fix.

captainhowdy

Mazzi, she was in nursing school, as I recall. And yes, her blog is absolutely NAUSEATING to read in light of the charges. I had followed it for a while--not regularly anymore, but I'd check in now and then to see how Dakota was doing. Now that I know what Emily was doing to her, I am sickened to read the posts in a different light. How the fuck could you cause your child to be so sick, in so much pain? All these posts about how Dakota is running a high fever, waking up from sleep screaming in pain...HOW could you do that to your baby????? The photos of Dakota in the hospital bed, sweaty and pale, covered in tubes and wires, with an oxygen mask over her face...it seriously turns my stomach.

In hindsight, the blog reads like Emily was using Dakota as her own personal little guinea pig. Torturing the baby (because, really, that is what she was doing to her, no point in mincing words) for her own twisted satisfaction. In my own humble opinion, it does appear that attention was a motivation, but more than that, it really does seem like she was just getting off on the whole thing. She was getting some kind of sick pleasure out of Dakota being in the hospital, and the doctors being unable to determine the cause of her infections.

I am still in shock. I re-read part of her blog yesterday and I just can't wrap my brain around how she could do that to her own daughter. I don't see how you could do that to ANYONE, obviously, but especially to your own baby. What a fucking nightmare for her family. Could you imagine how you'd feel knowing your spouse, child, sister, etc. was doing something like this!?

mommyto3luckyme

Soooo sick! Thankfully those doctors knew something was off and set up that camera. What a selfish bitch! One of my girls is the same age as her and I can't imagine.
I posted the links of her essay which also says she was taking antidepressant, and more photos of the little girl. The last link with pics makes me so sad that poor little girl has been through hell and her mother was trying to kill her! I wish I could be her Mom :(

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stor...

themcdonaldfive.blogspot.com/

more pictures of the little girl

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/themcdonaldfi...

pictures of her with bruises

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/themcdonaldfi...