American Woman Faces Over 50-Year Sentence For Beating, Starving 5-Year-Old Son To Death
The child’s body weighed only 19 pounds, and he showed signs of severe neglect, abuse, and drug exposure.
Danielle Dauphinais, 38, is due in court Friday for sentencing related to the 2021 death of her 5-year-old son, Elijah Lewis, who was found buried in a Massachusetts park.
The child’s body weighed only 19 pounds, and he showed signs of severe neglect, abuse, and drug exposure.
Last month, Dauphinais pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and related charges, avoiding trial through an agreement with prosecutors, AP reports.
Her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, was previously sentenced to 22 to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including manslaughter and second-degree assault.
Elijah’s autopsy revealed he suffered “facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment, and pressure ulcers.”
Prosecutors shared disturbing texts between Stapf and Dauphinais expressing anger toward Elijah and frustration with his behaviour.
In one message, Dauphinais said, “He said he wants food and he wants me to stop starving him because it’s not nice.” Another read, “I’m gonna kill him and I mean it,” while a separate message stated, “I hit him with the shower rod that’s all I did.”
Stapf also sent messages telling Dauphinais to “fatten him up” by giving Elijah more food.
Elijah’s father, Timothy Lewis, had brought him to live with Dauphinais and Stapf in New Hampshire in 2020, but by the fall, he grew concerned about Elijah’s care and contacted child services.
In a wrongful death lawsuit filed this May, Lewis described Elijah as having developmental issues and difficult behaviour that worsened under Dauphinais’ care.
A doctor’s visit in November 2020 showed Elijah weighing 32 pounds with facial bruises, and Dauphinais later claimed Elijah had been sent to California, though prosecutors said this arrangement was never followed through.
By October 2021, Dauphinais had given birth to another child who was found to have been exposed to drugs, triggering a child services investigation.
Dauphinais falsely claimed Elijah was with family members, who later revealed she had asked them to lie about his whereabouts.
Prosecutors believe Elijah died in September 2021, after which Dauphinais and Stapf buried his body in the park. The couple was arrested in New York, and days later, Elijah’s remains were discovered.
