Danielle Dauphinais, 38, is accused of killing her son Elijah Lewis who was found dead with gruesome face and scalp injuries. She had complained about Lewis to a friend just months before his body was recovered in the woods in Abington
A New Hampshire mom charged with the vile abuse and neglect of her 5-year-old son found dead with fentanyl in his system and gruesome injuries, is set to plead guilty, according to court documents.
Danielle Dauphinais, 38, is accused of killing her son Elijah Lewis who was found dead with numerous injuries. She had complained about Lewis to a friend just months before his body was recovered in the woods in Abington.
She said the child had become unruly and untenable and allegedly said: “I call him the next Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer. It’s so sad but I have no connection with this child. He’s been getting worse and worse…I want him gone.”
Elijah Lewis ( Image: New Hampshire Department of Justice)
According to a plea agreement filed Monday she is set to take a plea for second-degree murder, which is a lesser-included charge of the original crime of first-degree murder. She will also admit to two counts of tampering with a witness.
This means she could face 55 years to life in jail for the homicide charge along with three-and-a-half to seven years in prison for the tampering charges.
The child was discovered missing and found dead in October 2021 in a Massachusetts park. An autopsy showed he suffered facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment, and pressure ulcers.
Dauphinais’ boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, second-degree assault, falsifying physical evidence, and witness tampering in 2022 in connection with the boy’s death. He was sentenced to 22 to 45 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Elijah was starved, neglected, and physically abused. During Stapf’s sentencing, they read a series of texts between Stapf and Dauphinais that expressed hostility toward Elijah.
When Elijah died and child welfare workers started to investigate his disappearance, the couple put his body in a container and took him to Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Massachusetts, where Stapf dug a hole and buried him, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said that when Elijah was found, he was 3 feet (0.91 meters) tall and weighed 19 pounds, while an average 5-year-old boy would be about 3.6 feet (1.1 meter) tall and closer to 40 pounds. When Elijah was still missing, Stapf and Dauphinais were arrested in New York on charges of witness tampering and child endangerment. Days after their arrest, Elijah’s remains were found.
Dauphinais was indicted in 2022 on one count of first-degree murder alleging that she purposely caused her son’s death, one count of second-degree murder alleging she acted recklessly in causing his death, and three counts of witness tampering. She had initially pleaded not guilty before opting to change her plea.
