An Indiana man is facing murder, attempted murder and battery charges after authorities allege that he left his 3-month-old son inside a bucket, causing the child to asphyxiate, while he attacked his wife.
According to probable cause affidavit obtained, 28-year-old Eliasard Moneus is accused of taking his young son out of his wife’s arms and then placing him in the bucket.
Back on Aug. 10, the Lafayette police department issued a Silver Alert for 3-month-old Jacob Moneus, stating that the boy had been abducted and was in “extreme danger and may require medical assistance.”
Investigators allege in the affidavit that earlier that day, Jacob was sitting at home with his mother, who was watching a televised church service, when Moneus came into the apartment, took Jacob out of his wife’s hands and left.
Moneus’ wife alleged to investigators that he was not in her presence for about 30 minutes, though he was in the apartment. When he returned to the room she was in, he began hitting her with a “tire iron or wrench multiple times,” the affidavit states. She did not know where Moneus had allegedly taken Jacob, she added.
Per the affidavit, Moneus’ wife then drove herself to a nearby hospital for treatment and was diagnosed with a skull fracture. Officers also observed lacerations on her head, per the affidavit. She told police at the hospital that she and Moneus had been having a fight, and had not spoken for five days before the incident, according to the affidavit.
After speaking with the suspect’s wife, police began searching statewide for both Moneus and Jacob, the affidavit states. Indianapolis police eventually located the suspect at an apartment complex in Lawrence, Ind. that same day.
Police then arrested him in connection with the alleged domestic incident, and questioned him about where Jacob was. He told officers that he didn’t know where his son was, authorities allege. He also allegedly told investigators that he wished his wife would have died from her injuries, according to the affidavit.
The following day, just before 5 a.m., police were conducting a search at Moneus’ Lafayette apartment — where police allege the domestic incident had occurred — when an officer opened an orange bucket of a dark liquid sitting next to a garbage can in the home and found an infant’s body inside, according to the affidavit.
The Silver Alert was called off later that morning, according to a press release posted to Facebook by Lafayette police.
Officials wrote in the affidavit that the infant was in “dark-colored liquid” inside the bucket, and a press release shared on Aug. 12 by the Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the baby’s cause of death was asphyxia and it was ruled a homicide.
Moneus was arrested on Aug. 10 by police in Lafayette, Ind., according to Tippecanoe County Jail records, and was booked on charges of domestic battery resulting in serious bodily injury, domestic battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, attempted murder and murder the following day. According to an informational court document obtained by PEOPLE, he was also later charged with criminal confinement against his son.
On Thursday, Aug. 15, the 28-year-old appeared in court for an initial hearing and told judge Sarah Wyatt through a court-appointed Haitian Creole translator that he did not agree with some of the charges, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier. The judge eventually entered a not guilty plea on his behalf, according to an initial hearing order obtained.
Moneus could face 45 to 65 years in prison if convicted of murder, as well as 20 to 40 years in prison if convicted in connection with the alleged attempted murder of his wife, the outlet added. He also signed a no-contact order for his wife, and court records state that his jury trial is set to begin on Jan. 21, 2025. He is next due in court on Sept. 30.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
