A Lewiston, Minn., woman allegedly injected a laxative into her "emaciated" baby's feeding tube, which caused him to starve, according to a felony charge filed against her.

Megan L. Kafer, 25, had conducted several internet searches for ways to kill a child, looking up "can a doctor tell if you overdose on MiraLax" and "salt child death," court documents said.

Kafer was charged last week in Ramsey County District Court with one count of child endangerment. She was booked into jail this past summer, when the alleged crimes were discovered, and has been released. Her parental rights were terminated.

The charge against her did not reveal a possible motive but alleged that she told police she believed her actions would help her son gain weight.

"The report concluded that his mother falsified symptoms and induced signs of illness and used medical providers as a weapon to inflict harm," court documents said. "As a result, [the baby] suffered numerous unnecessary procedures and even surgeries."

According to the complaint: On July 26, medical staff at Children's Hospital alerted off-duty St. Paul police officer, Sgt. Eric Skog, who was working at the hospital, that Kafer was possibly harming her 9-month-old son.

The boy had been admitted on July 11 for "failure to thrive." Medical staff placed him and Kafer in a room with a video recorder when he couldn't gain weight.

Staff saw Kafer allegedly enter the room's unmonitored bathroom, exit with a syringe, hold the child in her lap and apparently inject something into his feeding tube.

Skog reviewed surveillance video, and then entered the room with staff to arrest Kafer.

"She began to cry and when she stood her entire body began shaking," the complaint said.

Police found the syringe with liquid inside and two open packages of MiraLAX, a laxative, inside Kafer's purse. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed that the syringe contained MiraLAX.

Kafer allegedly conducted 12 internet searches between July 21 and 25 for these phrases, among others: "can the Dr. test you for MiraLAX," "how to make a baby really sick" and "how to make a baby vomit."

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708 Twitter: @ChaoStrib