A 28-year-old mother from Montana is facing grave charges after allegedly neglecting her special-needs toddler to the point of death. Nichole Lynn Boyer reportedly admitted to authorities that she felt “overwhelmed” and had ceased providing her 2-year-old son with food and water weeks before his death. Arrested earlier this month, Boyer now faces a charge of deliberate homicide, as documented in court records.

The young victim had considerable disabilities, including spina bifida, club feet, and hydrocephalus, a condition that exerts considerable pressure on the brain.

According to a probable cause affidavit sourced by East Idaho News, Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched on October 16 following a report of a deceased child at a home located on the 300 block of Main Street in Lima, Montana, approximately 350 miles west of Billings. The call was made by Boyer herself, who disclosed that her son had been “sick for months and was now deceased.”

Upon reaching the scene, first responders recounted that Boyer expressed, “just take me to jail.” Inside the residence, deputies were immediately hit by the “smell of decomposing human remains” and noted the presence of “trash and rotten food, along with animal urine and feces” throughout the home.

Emergency medical services directed deputies to an upstairs bedroom, where the toddler was found lying “on a pile of laundry, bedsheets, trash, and other items beside a mattress.”

The affidavit detailed that “the child was covered with a sweatshirt that Boyer later confirmed was hers,” and tragically, “the child appeared to be in an advanced state of decomposition.”

The bedroom where the boy was located was described as “filthy” and had the air conditioner running even though the temperature outside was about 44 degrees.

When questioned by police, Boyer said she used to check on her son three to four times per day, but added that she “did not remember the whole month of September” before making “several comments about needing to go to jail.”

As the questioning continued, Boyer said she kept the victim in a “padded area” of the upstairs bedroom and would typically set his food on the ground and let him “army crawl” to it when he was hungry (as his medical condition prevented him from walking). However, she said she “became overwhelmed in August” with caring for her three other children and her father.

The situation allegedly continued to deteriorate in September. From the affidavit:

Boyer said that at some point in September, she got overwhelmed and stopped caring for the child. When asked why, she stated that she “didn’t prioritize him.” She stated, “I believe I should have done more,” and agreed that her lack of care led to [her son’s] death. She stated, “my lack of not paying attention and prioritizing other things over him led to him dying.”

The mother then confirmed that she knew her son had been dead for some time due to her failure to care for him. Police wrote:

Boyer said that she didn’t know the last time she actually remembers [her son] eating, and that she stopped giving him water sometime in September. Boyer was unclear whether she stopped giving S.B. food and water before or after he was deceased. When asked if S.B. starved to death, Boyer said she didn’t know. When asked if S.B. froze to death, Boyer stated that she didn’t think so.

Boyer stated that she knew S.B. had passed in September, but she had convinced herself that he was still alive. She didn’t want to accept S.B.’s death until that morning, when she finally “called the police on myself.”

Boyer is currently being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday morning.