Danielle Dauphinais has been charged in the murder of her five year old son Elijah Lewis. According to police reports Elijah Lewis was reported missing back in October 2021 and apparently he had not been seen in a month prior to that date. Along the way Danielle Dauphinais and her boyfriend Joseph Stapf were charged with intimidating witnesses and child endangerment.
In late October 2021 the body of Elijah Lewis would be found in a park in Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Massachusetts. Now a Grand Jury has indicted Danielle Dauphinais with one count of first-degree murder for purposely causing the death of Elijah Lewis and one count of second-degree murder for causing the death of Elijah Lewis recklessly with extreme indifference to the value of human life
Danielle Dauphinais More News
The mother of a 5-year-old Merrimack boy whose body was found buried in a Massachusetts park last year has been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder.
A grand jury returned an indictment on Friday charging Danielle Dauphinais, 35, with one count of first-degree murder for purposely causing the death of Elijah Lewis and one count of second-degree murder for causing the death of Elijah Lewis recklessly with extreme indifference to the value of human life
She was also charged with three counts of tampering with witnesses.
“Every murder is difficult,” said Attorney General John Formella. “It’s especially difficult when we’re dealing with a young child. Like I said, our team has been working hard on this and will continue to work hard as the case moves forward.”
Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were previously charged with witness tampering and child endangerment. Dauphinais has been held without bail on the earlier charges.
Elijah was first reported missing on Oct. 14, 2021, and police said he had not been seen for about a month before he was reported missing. Ten days later, a New Hampshire cadaver dog located remains in a grave covered in soil at Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Massachusetts.
Dauphinais and Stapf were arrested in New York days before Elijah’s remains were found.
Neighbors of the home on Sunset Drive in Merrimack where Elijah lived with his mother said the new charges start to bring some closure to the case. A sign in front of a neighbor’s house asks the public to Google the case, and the residents said they want to keep the focus on Elijah.
Bill Roy said he’s moving into the house where Elijah lived and is now painting the outside of the home.
“I’m basically going to help buy it, and I’m fixing the place up,” he said. “I’m trying to clean up the misery.”
Neighbors said the house was being rented for the past few months while Dauphinais was in jail.
https://www.wmur.com/article/merrimack-boy-dead-massachusetts-state-park-murder-charge/39752901#