‘Inspired by pure hate’: NH mom who admitted to killing son sentenced to at least 50 years in prison

NASHUA, N.H. — A New Hampshire mother who admitted in September to murdering her 5-year-old son and burying him in a Massachusetts park was sentenced Friday to at least 50 years in prison.

Danielle Dauphinais, 38, of Merrimack, appeared in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua, where Judge Charles Temple handed her a sentence in the New Hampshire State Prison for not more than life or less than 50 years on a second-degree murder charge for the killing of Elijah Lewis, who weighed just 19 pounds when his body was found buried, face down in the fetal position in a shallow hole at Ames Nowell State Park in Abington.

Temple called the crimes against Dauphinais, who stood in front of him in an orange jumpsuit crying and quivering, “heinous” and “inspired by pure hate.”

Prosecutors said Lewis was beaten, starved, and exposed to fentanyl before his death.

Temple also referenced evidence of a text message in the case, including one that referred to Lewis as a “maggot.”

“I look at this. This is not a maggot. This is a beautiful little boy,” Temple said. “Your words shined a light on your intention...Your words that I’ve seen are damning in this case. They are chords of terror that rain down on this little boy.”

“Elijah was assaulted, starved, isolated, and neglected. He was tortured,” a prosecutor said as Dauphinais entered her guilty plea, three years after Lewis’ death.

Had the case against Dauphinais gone to trial, Dr. Richard Atkinson would have revealed to jurors that Elijah “died as a result of violence and neglect,” including facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment, and pressure ulcers, according to prosecutors.

Before learning her fate, Dauphinais addressed the court and expressed remorse for her actions as she fought through tears.

“All the agony my son encountered, neglect, isolation, mistreatment, and malnourishment was horrible,” Dauphinais said as she read from a prepared statement, stumbling over words. “No child should have to go through any and in particular that kind of abuse.”

Dauphinais said Elijah never deserved any of the abuse, revealing a personal history of struggle that she should have learned from.

“I wish I could go back and take it all back,” Dauphinais added. “I didn’t know how to make better decisions at the time.”

Dauphinais was indicted by a grand jury on murder charges in connection with her son’s death in April 2022. Dauphinais and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, were originally charged with witness tampering and child endangerment.

Stapf later pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault, and other charges in 2022 in connection with Elijah’s death. He’s serving a 22-to-45-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors said that the investigation into Elijah’s whereabouts began after Dauphinais gave birth to a baby boy and Stapf dropped the child off at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.

The Division of Children, Youth, and Families began questioning Dauphinais about where Elijah was.

Prosecutors said she told them “Elijah was gone” and then said he was living with her sister Tracy in California. Her sister later told the social worker and investigators that Dauphinais asked her to lie and say Elijah was with her in California, but she refused.

According to cell phone records, Dauphinais was confronted again by DCYF workers, at which point she told them she sent Elijah to her brother’s house in Texas.

Her brother, Bruce, told DCYF workers he had custody of Elijah since September, not knowing it was more than a wellness check, but couldn’t provide any information on him like where he went to school. He was told to call them back but never did.

DCYF then went to Merrimack Police to report Elijah as missing.

Text messages between Dauphinais and Stapf revealed she was depriving the child of nourishment, prosecutors said.

“I gave him a small bowl of cereal so he would shut the **** up. But that wasn’t enough. He said he wants food and wants me to stop starving him because it’s not nice,” read one message.

“I’m gonna kill this kid joe, ****ing screaming at the top of his lungs ****ing water,” said another from Dauphinais to Stapf.

Prosecutors outlined how and when the couple buried Elijah.

Merrimack Police tracked the couple’s cell phones, finding that the pair traveled through Boston to Abington, 14 hours after investigators started asking questions.

Prosecutors said Stapf buried Elijah’s body and put a white birch tree over his grave. Then, the couple drove to Mohegan Sun, had a bite to eat, went to a country music concert, and boarded a bus to New York City.

The two were arrested at a subway station in the Bronx.

Prosecutors also said that Elijah weighed 32 pounds at his last and only doctor’s visit with his mother, and weighed 19 pounds when his body was found in the state park. An average 5-year-old boy would be about 3.6 feet tall and closer to 40 pounds.

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