The mother of a New Hampshire boy found dead in a Massachusetts park in October 2021 will plead guilty to her son’s murder.
Danielle Dauphinais plans to admit to second-degree murder and two counts of witness tampering, according to her notice of intent to enter a plea filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court South and obtained by PEOPLE.
The 38-year-old faces 55 years to life in prison on the murder charge and an additional 3.5 to 7 years for witness tampering, per the filing.
Michael S. Garrity of New Hampshire’s Office of the Attorney General confirms to PEOPLE that Dauphinais has a plea hearing slated for Thursday, Sept. 26, at 9 a.m. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.
PEOPLE reached out to Dauphinais’s lawyer, Benjamin L. Falkner for comment on the planned plea. Falkner did not respond in time for publication.
Authorities had been looking for Elijah Lewis for nine days when a cadaver dog found his body buried in the woods Oct. 23, 2021.
The child had been dead for some time, investigators later said in an indictment obtained by PEOPLE, which said Elijah had been murdered “on or between September 27, 2020, through September 24, 2021.”
The child’s body had facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and pressure ulcers, according to the attorney general’s office, which released his autopsy results that November.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts determined the 5-year-old died by homicide caused by violence and neglect.
That month, both Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were arrested in New York City on charges connected to the case, PEOPLE previously reported.
Dauphinais was indicted in April 2022 on charges of one count of first-degree murder for purposely causing her son’s death, one count of second degree murder caused “recklessly with extreme indifference to the value of human life” and three counts of tampering with witnesses, according to the attorney general’s office.
Later that year, on Sept. 29, 2022 Stapf pleaded guilty to manslaughter, second-degree assault, falsifying physical evidence and witness tampering in connection to Elijah’s death, according to the attorney general’s office. He was sentenced to between 22 and 45 years behind bars.
Days before authorities started looking for Elijah, Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H. reported to law enforcement that a man later identified as Stapf had surrendered the couple’s 3-day-old son at the hospital on Oct. 10, 2021, per a probable cause affidavit obtained. Stapf had not left identifying information.
Authorities determined that the newborn had been born drug-dependent at the couple’s home and that they had handed him over in the hope that they would not lose custody of their young daughter.
A few days later, Merrimack police learned that Dauphinais’ older son, Elijah, was missing.
In police interviews with Stapf’s mother, Joanne Stapf claimed that Elijah had behavioral issues and that he was habitually urinating and defecating on the floors and bedding, per the affidavit, which quotes Joanne as saying she agreed with Dauphinais that Elijah “had to go” to ensure the safety of his sister.
She claimed to authorities that the couple told her they had taken Elijah to a “center” for treatment, because she claimed, per the affidavit, that he was “uncontrollable” and a “mentally unstable kid.”
On the day Stapf surrendered his infant son, he texted his mother, instructing her: “No bringing up Eli,” per the messages transcribed in the affidavit, referencing Elijah.
Elijah Lewis’s bedroom as pictured during a search of the New Hampshire home in Oct. 2021.
Merrimack New Hampshire Police Department
During a search of the couple’s residence, investigators found a locked box with a filled methadone prescription for Dauphinais. There were also two bags with a brown powder substance consistent with “heroin/ fentanyl,” per the affidavit. In another locked box, investigators recovered a filled subscription for Stapft’s methadone.
Investigators also found a medical card with Elijah’s name on it and an unsigned affidavit for his temporary guardianship to Dauphinais’s sister.
When investigators observed the rooms belonging to the couple’s daughter and to Elijah, Lieutenant Sean M. Cassell wrote in his affidavit that he believed Elijah was “no longer” living there.
In photographs included in the affidavit, the little girl’s bed is covered with stuffed animals, her name written in gold and white letters across the wall.
In contrast, the dresser in Elijah’s room was littered with “adult perfumes/ colognes,” per the affidavit. An adult man’s shirts hung over boxed Legos.
Investigators could not find a single photograph of Elijah in the home.
