This week, a Michigan mother facing charges alongside her boyfriend for the murder of her toddler son agreed to a guilty plea and is set to testify against her partner. The disturbing case involved allegations that the couple intended to eliminate the child to “make room” for a baby they planned to have together.
Amanda Mae Maison, aged 33, confessed to second-degree murder on Wednesday concerning the tragic death of her 3-year-old son, Matthew Maison. This development was announced by the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office.
Both Maison and Maurice Houle, 25, were taken into custody in April, charged with the February 2018 death of the toddler, as reported by CrimeOnline. An autopsy revealed that the child succumbed to blunt force trauma, with suffocation also considered a possibility.
During the arrests, St. Clair County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Sparling revealed that the pair had accused each other of physically harming the child. He claimed that their actions were part of a sinister plan to eliminate Matthew, thereby making space for a new child they hoped to raise together.
Sparling detailed the abuse, stating Houle would slap the toddler’s face, force him into timeout on his knees, and repeatedly knock his head against the wall. The young boy was allegedly confined to his room for prolonged periods without sustenance, and Houle reportedly smothered him with a pillow, pretending it was a game.
Maison confessed to investigators that Houle frequently pressed a pillow against the boy’s face. She admitted to pushing his head violently into a wall with such force that it damaged the drywall, Sparling noted.
She also told detectives that she lied about the abuse, lied when she initially spoke with officers in 2018, and lied to Child Protective Services investigating Houle for abuse prior to the boy’s death. She also said the hadn’t taken her son to the doctor because she didn’t want them to see his injuries.
In court on Wednesday, Maison admitted that Houle abused Matthew “and that she willingly participated in the intentional concealment of Matthew’s injuries to Child Protective Services and Law Enforcement investigations from 2016 through the 2018 murder investigation,” the sheriff’s office said.
She further admitted participating in the abuse and “that she participated with Maurice Houle in activiely contriving a plan to conceal the manner of Matthew’s death from law enforcement.”
Her plea includes testifying against Houle when he goes to trial next year. As a result of the plea, Maison’s bond was cancelled and she was remanded to jail pending sentencing, when she faces up to life in prison.
The sheriff’s office said it “has been unwavering in it’s [sic] commitment to bring to bring justice for Matthew,” although they have not explained why it took seven years to file charges.
