Elijah Lewis' mother pleads guilty to second-degree murder as disturbing text messages revealed

    NASHUA, New Hampshire (WBZ) -- Disturbing text messages were read in court Thursday as the mother of 5-year-old Elijah Lewis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and several other charges in his 2021 death. The young boy was reported missing from New Hampshire, and found dead a month later in Abington, Massachusetts.

Danielle Dauphinais, 38, pleaded guilty to the murder charges and two counts of witness tampering during a hearing at Hillsboro Superior Court in Nashua. She will be sentenced October 25.

Dauphinais' attorney said her client doesn't agree with all the facts, but admits to the crimes.

Investigators believe Elijah died between September 21 and September 24, 2021.

Dauphinais and Elijah lived in Merrimack, New Hampshire with her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf.

Elijah was reported missing in October 2021. After an extensive search that lasted more than a week, his body was found in Ames Nowell State Park in Abington. Prosecutors said Dauphinais and Stapf put Elijah's body in a container, dug a hole and buried him in the park.

When Elijah's body was found, prosecutors say he had been starved, neglected and physically abused. An autopsy showed he suffered facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and pressure ulcers.

When police eventually found Elijah's body, he weighed just 19 pounds.

Dauphinais was Elijah's primary caretaker. Prosecutors said the young boy was the subject of repeated abuse leading up to his death.

"Elijah was assaulted, starved, isolated, and neglected. He was tortured," the prosecutor said in court.

Dauphinais and Stapf were arrested in the Bronx on October 17, 2021 amid the search for Elijah.

During a police interview, Dauphinais claimed Elijah wandered away in September and they never found him. Dauphinais claimed she and Stapf looked for Elijah, but never reported him missing.

Officers searched Stapf's truck, which was abandoned at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. They found a letter in the truck that included the story about Elijah wandering off.

Police also found trash, which included items that belonged to Elijah such as coloring books.

Several days later, a police dog searching in Abington picked up the scent of a body.

Police said Dauphinais and Stapf threw their phones into a river. Stapf's was later found, though Dauphinais' was never recovered.

Investigators found Facebook and text messages Dauphinais sent to Stapf on his phone.

"He said he wants food and he wants me to stop starving him because it's not nice," Dauphinais said in one message read in court Thursday.

In another message, prosecutors said Dauphinais wrote, "I'm gonna kill him and I mean it."

Dauphinais allegedly admitted to abuse in other messages. In one she said "I hit him in the head with the shower rod that's all I did," adding in another "Just whooped the maggot's [expletive]."

In October 2020, Elijah's father contacted the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to report that Elijah had not been receiving proper medical care.

On October 8, 2020, Dauphinais texted Stapf "I had to be easy on Elijah today because of what's going on," prosecutors said.

Elijah had a doctor's appointment in November 2020 and weighed 32 pounds at the time. Dauphinais told doctors the boy was moving back to Arizona to live with his father, which was not true. Doctors at the appointment noted bruises on his face, left eye and right arm.

In October 2021, Dauphinais told DCYF employees that Elijah didn't live with her anymore and had moved to live with her sister in California. Prosecutors said that because of that lie, DCYF closed its investigation.

Later, Dauphinais falsely told the social workers that Elijah had actually gone to live with her brother in Texas. Prosecutors said Dauphinais' brother went along with the story, but later told investigators the truth.

Following the hearing, relative MJ Morrison said Elijah's death highlights problems with how DCYF monitors children in New Hampshire.

"They did not follow up on where he was, or even confirm that he went with her sister. And that is absolutely horrifying," Morrison said. "I don't know how many more children in the state need to die before we follow through on what's actually happening in the homes and taking the word from the parents that are being accused of these things. They're not doing enough, and that needs to change."

According to a plea agreement, Dauphinais faces a sentence of 55 years to life in prison for the charge of second-degree murder. Dauphinais also would receive two sentences of 3.5 to 7 years, served concurrently after the second-degree murder sentence.

In 2022, Stapf pleaded guilty to manslaughter, second-degree assault, falsifying physical evidence and witness tampering. He was sentenced to 22 to 45 years in prison.

Members of the Merrimack Police Department filled a row of seats in the courtroom for Dauphinais' plea hearing.