Killer mom sobs and quivers as she's sentenced for starving son, 5, to death

A New Hampshire pistillate has been sentenced to 50 years to beingness successful situation implicit the decease of her five-year-old son, who was beaten, starved, exposed to drugs, and weighing conscionable 19 pounds erstwhile his assemblage was buried successful a parkland successful 2021. 

Danielle Dauphinais, 38, sobbed successful the courtroom portion her little articulator quivered arsenic she tried to work done a prepared connection earlier she was jailed connected Friday, apt for the remainder of her life. 

She had been facing a proceedings but aft reaching an statement with prosecutors past period pleaded blameworthy to second-degree murder and different charges successful the decease of Elijah Lewis, who was buried successful a Massachusetts park.

Dauphinais' boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, pleaded blameworthy to manslaughter, second-degree assault, falsifying carnal grounds and witnesser tampering successful 2022 successful transportation with the boy's death. He was sentenced to 22 to 45 years successful prison. 

Elijah's autopsy showed helium suffered facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and unit ulcers. 

Dauphinais addressed the tribunal during Friday's proceeding arsenic she attempted to explicate her behaviour by telling the justice she had besides been abused arsenic a child, saying it severely impacted her life.

'Even so, Elijah ne'er deserved immoderate of the abuse. Parents are expected to instrumentality attraction of their child. I privation that I could person gone back, could person done amended and instrumentality it each back. I didn't cognize however to marque amended decisions astatine the time,' Dauphinais said.

Towards the extremity of the statement, Dauphinais became overwhelmed and was incapable to proceed leaving her lawyer to work retired her prepared statement. 

Prosecutors described the torture that Elijah was forced to endure implicit the people of galore months. 

They described however Dauphinais repeatedly assaulted Elijah, near him isolated him successful a room, deprived him of food, covering and basal care.

Prosecutors besides work a bid of texts betwixt Stapf and Dauphinais that expressed hostility toward Elijah and vexation if helium didn't behave according to their wishes.

'He said helium wants nutrient and helium wants maine to halt starving him due to the fact that it's not nice,' 1 said. 

Another connection read: 'I'm gonna termination him and I mean it,' portion different said, 'I deed him with the ablution rod that's each I did.'

Some of the texts from Stapf to Dauphinais told her to springiness Elijah much nutrient to 'fatten him up.'

The justice besides referenced different substance connection successful the case, including 1 that referred to Elijah arsenic a 'maggot.'

'This is not a maggot. It's a beauteous small boy,' Judge Temple said. 'Your words that I person seen are damning successful this case.' 

As helium passed the sentence, the justice said Dauphinais 'deserves important and terrible incarceration.'

'We person to region you from nine and amusement nine that justness volition beryllium done,' Temple said. 'I person to nonstop you and the assemblage a precise wide message.'

Elijah was calved successful Arizona successful 2016 and his parents divorced a twelvemonth later. Dauphinais moved to New Hampshire. 

In May 2020, his begetter Timothy Lewis brought Elijah to unrecorded with Dauphinais, Stapf, and the two-year-old girl she had with Stapf.

They stayed successful the basement of a location wherever Stapf's parent besides lived.

However, by that fall, Lewis became acrophobic that Elijah wasn't getting due aesculapian attraction and contacted the authorities Division for Children, Youth and Families. 

In a wrongful decease suit filed this past May against Dauphinais, Stapf, Stapf's mother, and the kid services agency, Lewis described Elijah arsenic having developmental challenges and a hard behaviour signifier that had worsened successful New Hampshire.

A lawyer for the part has asked for the suit to beryllium dismissed, saying the authorities bureau did not person custody of Elijah.

A sojourn to the doc successful November 2020 showed that Elijah weighed 32 pounds and had bruises connected his face, oculus and arm, prosecutors said. 

Dauphinais aboriginal told the bureau that her lad was sent to California to unrecorded with Dauphinais' sister, a custody statement the begetter had agreed to, but Dauphinais didn't travel through, prosecutors said.

By October 2021, Dauphinais had fixed commencement to a lad astatine home, prosecutors said. Stapf brought the babe to a infirmary with the intent to permission him there. 

The infirmary recovered grounds of drugs successful the babe and contacted the kid services agency, which opened an investigation. The bureau could find nary signs of Elijah.

Dauphinais said her lad was with her sister, and past her brother. 

Both relatives told investigators that Dauphinais had contacted them and asked them to prevarication astir Elijah's whereabouts.

Prosecutors judge Elijah died successful September 2021 and the mates enactment his assemblage successful a instrumentality and brought him to the Massachusetts park, wherever Stapf dug a spread and buried him, prosecutors said.

When Elijah was inactive missing, Stapf and Dauphinais were arrested successful New York. 

Days aft their arrest, Elijah's remains were found successful Ames Nowell State Park successful Abington, Massachusetts.

A doc would person testified astatine proceedings that Elijah suffered 'torture, repeated carnal assaults, ongoing intelligence maltreatment, including affectional rejection, denigration, isolation, and denial of care,' authoritative Bethany Durand said. 

Prosecutors said that erstwhile Elijah was found, helium was 3 feet gangly and weighed 19 pounds, portion an mean five-year-old lad would beryllium astir 3.6 feet gangly and person to 40 pounds.

Dauphinais was indicted successful 2022 connected 1 number of first-degree execution alleging that she purposely caused her son's death, 1 number of second-degree execution alleging she acted recklessly successful causing his death, and 3 counts of witnesser tampering.