The mom of a New Hampshire boy found dead in a Massachusetts park in October 2021 will plead responsible to her son’s murder.
Danielle Dauphinais plans to confess to second-degree homicide and two counts of witness tampering, in keeping with her discover of intent to enter a plea filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court docket South and obtained by PEOPLE.
The 38-year-old faces 55 years to life in jail on the homicide cost and an extra 3.5 to 7 years for witness tampering, per the submitting.
Michael S. Garrity of New Hampshire’s Workplace of the Legal professional Normal confirms to PEOPLE that Dauphinais has a plea listening to slated for Thursday, Sept. 26, at 9 a.m. Her sentencing listening to is scheduled for Oct. 25.
PEOPLE reached out to Dauphinais’s lawyer, Benjamin L. Falkner for touch upon the deliberate plea. Falkner didn’t reply in time for publication.
Authorities had been on the lookout for Elijah Lewis for 9 days when a cadaver dog found his body buried in the woods Oct. 23, 2021.
The kid had been useless for a while, investigators later stated in an indictment obtained by PEOPLE, which stated Elijah had been murdered “on or between September 27, 2020, by way of September 24, 2021.”
The kid’s physique had facial and scalp accidents, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and strain ulcers, in keeping with the lawyer common’s workplace, which released his post-mortem outcomes that November.
The Workplace of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts decided the 5-year-old died by murder attributable to violence and neglect.
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That month, each Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, had been arrested in New York Metropolis on fees related to the case, PEOPLE beforehand reported.
Dauphinais was indicted in April 2022 on fees of 1 rely of first-degree homicide for purposely inflicting her son’s demise, one rely of second diploma homicide induced “recklessly with excessive indifference to the worth of human life” and three counts of tampering with witnesses, in keeping with the lawyer common’s workplace.
Later that yr, on Sept. 29, 2022 Stapf pleaded responsible to manslaughter, second-degree assault, falsifying bodily proof and witness tampering in connection to Elijah’s demise, in keeping with the lawyer common’s workplace. He was sentenced to between 22 and 45 years behind bars.
Days earlier than authorities began on the lookout for Elijah, Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H. reported to legislation enforcement {that a} man later recognized as Stapf had surrendered the couple’s 3-day-old son on the hospital on Oct. 10, 2021, per a possible trigger affidavit obtained by PEOPLE. Stapf had not left figuring out info.
Authorities decided that the new child had been born drug-dependent on the couple’s house and that they’d handed him over within the hope that they might not lose custody of their younger daughter.
Just a few days later, Merrimack police realized that Dauphinais’ older son, Elijah, was lacking.
In police interviews with Stapf’s mom, Joanne Stapf claimed that Elijah had behavioral points and that he was habitually urinating and defecating on the flooring and bedding, per the affidavit, which quotes Joanne as saying she agreed with Dauphinais that Elijah “needed to go” to make sure the protection of his sister.
She claimed to authorities that the couple informed her they’d taken Elijah to a “middle” for remedy, as a result of she claimed, per the affidavit, that he was “uncontrollable” and a “mentally unstable child.”
On the day Stapf surrendered his toddler son, he texted his mom, instructing her: “No mentioning Eli,” per the messages transcribed within the affidavit, referencing Elijah.
Throughout a search of the couple’s residence, investigators discovered a locked field with a stuffed methadone prescription for Dauphinais. There have been additionally two luggage with a brown powder substance per “heroin/ fentanyl,” per the affidavit. In one other locked field, investigators recovered a stuffed subscription for Stapft’s methadone.
Investigators additionally discovered a medical card with Elijah’s identify on it and an unsigned affidavit for his momentary guardianship to Dauphinais’s sister.
When investigators noticed the rooms belonging to the couple’s daughter and to Elijah, Lieutenant Sean M. Cassell wrote in his affidavit that he believed Elijah was “not” dwelling there.
In pictures included within the affidavit, the little woman’s mattress is roofed with stuffed animals, her identify written in gold and white letters throughout the wall.
In distinction, the dresser in Elijah’s room was affected by “grownup perfumes/ colognes,” per the affidavit. An grownup man’s shirts hung over boxed Legos.
Investigators couldn’t discover a single {photograph} of Elijah within the house.