Texas woman accused of poisoning grandchild with nail polish remover, other substances
A Texas grandmother is accused of medical child abuse after authorities allege she poisoned her granddaughter with nail polish remover and other substances through a feeding tube.
Lisa Goins, 56, was arrested on Dec. 20 and faces charges in Tarrant County of serious bodily injury to a child, unlawful restraint and child exploitation, according to arrest warrant affidavits obtained by the Star-Telegram.
Goins provided a false medical history for the then 5-year-old victim in order to get an unnecessary gastric feeding tube placed in May 2023, which was used to give the child unneeded medications, the affidavits state.
According to the warrants, there also appears to be at least $600,000 in Medicaid fraud that occurred in unneeded medical interventions and hospitalizations of the girl at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.
Family members report concerns
The girl came to live with Lisa Goins in Central Texas when she was 7 months old.
The child was brought to Cook Children’s hospital in August 2023 after her stomach had been bloated and she was having problems with constipation, and she was sent home with Pedialyte, Goins told a detective.
Later that night the girl woke up and was crying and holding her stomach, and soiled herself with diarrhea, the affidavits state. During a 911 call, Goins said she noticed that the child’s eyes “were fixed and dilated,” so she woke her mother-in-law and brought the girl to the hospital.
Goins told investigators that the child’s stomach issues had started a year ago and she was also diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological disorder.
In January 2024, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office Detective Michael Weber interviewed a social worker at Cook Children’s who reported that a woman came into the emergency room. The woman identified herself as the aunt of Goins’ husband.
The aunt said she wanted to report concerns that the suspect might be poisoning the child through the feeding tube. She told detectives that the night the suspect took the girl to the hospital, Goins’ mother in-law found an almost empty bottle of nail polish remover on the headboard of the bed.
The family found this odd because they knew Goins did not polish her nails, according to the affidavits.
After receiving that report, detectives interviewed Goins’ mother-in-law, who said that she saw Goins dissolve Benadryl and melatonin and put them in the child’s feeding tube, which would make her unable to eat and cause her to fall asleep for long periods, the warrants state.
Detectives also found a bottle of Mean Green Degreaser in the victim’s hospital room, which contains alkaline and which doctors said could have caused some of the child’s symptoms if she were poisoned with it.
The mother-in-law told the detective that the victim ate well when she was younger and didn’t start having feeding issues until several months before the gastric feeding tube was placed.
Facebook page for donations
Goins made various Facebook posts with pictures of the victim’s face covered in multiple medical apparatuses along with a link to a GoFundMe page to solicit monetary donations, according to her arrest warrants.
One post read, “Woke up this morning with her colossal bag full of blood. So now they’re doing tests and trying to find out what’s going on. We appreciate all the prayers and support and love from each and every one of y’all. And the donations.”
“Miss has crone disease. They have a few more tests that we’re waiting to get back sure they are positive. So everyone please keep the prayers coming. Thank you for all the love and support and donations,” another post read.
Goins told family members she would be getting $80,000 from the state and that a social worker at Cook Children’s was helping her with the claim for the child’s medical conditions, the affidavits state.
Previous allegations
Goins had previously been accused in 1999 of medical child abuse perpetrated on her son, according to the warrants in the current case involving her granddaughter.
Goins’ son is now in his 30s. His father told detectives that he had a vivid memory of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigation after Goins was caught at Cook Children’s hospital telling doctors that the boy had vomited when he had not.
The father said that besides falsifying vomiting, she also presented his son as having a seizure disorder that he never had. DFPS only required them to take parenting classes after the investigation, which did not lead to criminal charges, according to the affidavits.
DFPS has no policies on medical child abuse and doesn’t provide mandated training to its employees, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office said in the court documents.
Goins’ stepson also told Detective Weber that when he was around 15 years old, she would exaggerate his behavior to get higher doses of his ADHD medication. He also recalled a time when Goins gave him his dad’s medications.
Grandchild got better after treatments stopped, family says
Goins’ granddaughter had a very confusing treatment course, her doctors told investigators. After she was weaned off drugs and medical care she got better, the affidavits state.
The girl has been in the care of another relative since she was separated from Goins in early 2024. In conversations with the detective, the relative said the child is thriving in her care.
She has gained around five pounds since her release from the hospital, does not have feeding issues and is only taking a low dose of medications, the affidavits state.
The girl, who didn’t receive any formal education in her early life, has now started school, and is doing well behavior-wise but is behind where she should be academically, a family member told the detective.
Goins’ bond has been set at $150,000. She was arrested in Brown County and transferred to the Tarrant County Jail.
According to a social media post from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, detectives are asking for the public’s help to identify those who may have made financial donations to Goins, who is also known as Lisa Campbell. Anyone with information can call Detective Weber at 817-884-3749.
This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 10:36 AM.