February 6, 2025

Coleman County grandmother accused of poisoning granddaughter through feeding tube, faking illnesses

Coleman County grandmother accused of poisoning granddaughter through feeding tube, faking illnesses
Editor’s Note: The court documents referenced are extensive, so they are included in their entirety at the bottom of the article.

COLEMAN COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – A Coleman County grandmother accused of poisoning her young granddaughter through a feeding tube and making it seem like the child had illnesses that required extensive medication and treatment has been arrested.

Lisa Campbell-Goins was taken into custody last week on warrants for Unlawful Restraint, Exploitation of Child/Elderly/Disabled, and Injury to a Child/Elderly/Disabled in connection to the allegations. She now remains held in the Tarrant County Jail on bonds totaling $150,000.

Court documents filed in the case reveal detectives began investigating allegations of medical child abuse after a family member came forward at Cook Children’s Medical Center in January 2024, where Campbell-Goins’ granddaughter was hospitalized, saying she was concerned the child’s symptoms were caused by poison in the child’s feeding tube.

This family member expressed concern about a bottle of nail polish remover that was near the child before she was last hospitalized, even though Campbell-Goins did not have painted fingers. Other family members said they thought this was strange as well.

The documents state multiple family members describe witnessing Campbell-Goins administering Benadryl and Melatonin through the child’s feeding tube and that she had been doing this since she began caring for the child in 2021, after the child fell at the age of 7-months-old and hit her head, causing an alleged movement disorder called dystonia. The documents reveal that later in the investigation, detectives concluded the child only suffered minor injuries from the fall.

Detectives learned Campbell-Goins did not have legal custody of the child and had her removed from the hospital while the investigation was ongoing. The documents state that since that time, the child has made remarkable improvements in her behavior, her ability to move around, and her ability to eat and drink by mouth. Her severe GI issues, which were the cause of the child’s hospitalization, also subsided.

She was also taken off several medications and was given a regular hospital bed instead of a posey bed, which the documents state Campbell-Goins insisted she used, despite the advice of doctors and nurses.

Detectives interviewed multiple medical professionals who were unable to diagnose the child because her symptoms were not consistent with any known illness and were not responding to treatment.

During an interview in May, the documents state that one of the child’s doctor’s, “stated that once the suspect was removed from the hospital, the victim made almost immediate strides, was able to be weaned off of many psych drugs and stopped having unexplained diarrhea.”

Another doctor, “stated that he could count on one hand the times he has seen a child as sick as the victim get better with the only thing done by medical professionals is ending interventions and decreasing care”. He also advised that abuse was suspected in all the other cases he knew about.

Doctors were able to conclude that the child’s symptoms could be explained by alkaline poisoning, which could have stemmed from nail polish remover or bottles of degreaser that were found in the child’s hospital room, though the documents state doctors could not say definitively that’s what caused the symptoms either.

Detectives talked to a psychiatric doctor about the child being left in a posey bed at the hospital for long periods of time.

The documents state the bed was procured at Campbell-Goins’ request and that she continually pushed for it and kept the child in it for long periods of time, despite medical professionals saying it was unnecessary.

The child was in a posey bed on and off for days, weeks, or even a month at a time from August 2023 through January 2024.

Some notes from the nurses on shift while the child was at the hospital claimed that they witnessed Campbell-Goins’ using the posey bed “as punishment” for behaviors Campbell-Goins didn’t like.

While the child was in the care of Campbell-Goins, she was hospitalized 17 different times from January 2021 through her final stay at Cook Children’s Medical Center in August 2023, where she remained until the start of the investigation in January.

The documents reveal medications the child was on, included but were not limited to, “Clonidine, Gabapentin, Haloperidol, Lorazepam, Olanzapine, Quetiapine, Topiramate, Zonisamide, Oxcarbazepine, and Clonazapam.” In another section, the documents reveal the child was given psychiatric medication as well such as Zyprexa, Seroqul, and Baclofen.

She has since been weaned off all medications, including Benadryl, besides low doses of clonidine and Zoloft to help her concentrate in school.

The child has been in the custody of her maternal grandmother since March of 2024, where she continues to recover. The documents state her feeding tube has been removed, she’s gained weight, she’s had regular bowel movements and is barely on any medications. She also had her gastrostomy closed and now takes food and medicine by mouth with no issues.

The child has no abnormal behavior issues as well, and is in school for the first time, where the documents state she is excelling socially but is being monitored to see if she is behind educationally due to a learning disorder or because she has not received any formal education up until this point.

Due to the child’s drastic improvement since leaving the hospital and Campbell-Goins’ care, the documents state doctors determined that the child’s disorders were “consistent with fabricated illness” and that this child is most likely the, “unfortunate victim of medical child abuse.”

In addition to the illnesses, Campbell-Goins’ allegedly caused $600,000 worth of Medicaid fraud due to the unneeded treatment and hospitalization, and she also collected hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in donations from GoFundMe.

Campbell-Goins is also accused of similar behavior in the past.

The documents state her stepson claims Campbell-Goins falsified his symptoms when he was a teenager so he would be on higher doses of ADHD medication and that she would also give him some of his father’s medication.

Campbell-Goins was also under official DFPS investigation in 1999 when she was caught telling doctors her son had vomited at the hospital when he had not. Her then-husband also reported he came to believe she was inducing illness in her son and over-medicating him.

This investigation was closed after Campbell-Goins took parenting classes. She also says she was tested for “Munchausen by Proxy” in 1999 but claimed she didn’t have it.

For in-depth information on these allegations, feel free to read the court documents in their entirety below:

No further information is available at this time.


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