Prosecutors preparing for the murder trial of a mother accused of killing her young son plan to introduce potentially incriminating text exchanges between the woman and her former boyfriend as evidence.
Danielle Dauphinais is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 7 on several charges — including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, child endangerment and witness tampering — in connection with the death of her 5-year-old son, Elijah Lewis.
Elijah’s remains were found in October 2021 buried in Abington, Mass., after child-protection workers told police he had not been seen for six months.
An autopsy determined Elijah died from facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and bed sores, signaling that he had probably been confined to a bed or other furniture for long periods of time.
Joseph Stapf, Dauphinais’ boyfriend at the time of Elijah’s death, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to manslaughter in connection with the Merrimack boy’s death.
Stapf, 32, who also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, concealing evidence and witness tampering, was sentenced to 22 to 45 years in state prison.
Earlier this month, prosecutors filed motions stating their intent to introduce evidence from cellphones owned by Dauphinais and Stapf — specifically text messages exchanged between the two — leading up to and during the time frame officials say Elijah was killed.
Elijah was killed between Sept. 21 and Sept. 24 in 2021, according to prosecutors.
According to court documents, Merrimack police believe Elijah arrived in New Hampshire in May 2020 and lived with his mother and Stapf in a basement apartment at 7 Sunset Drive owned by Stapf’s mother, Joanne Stapf.
Dauphinais and Stapf had a child together, J.S., born in 2019, who also lived with them.
Dauphinais’ and Stapf’s phones were used before Elijah’s arrival in New Hampshire, through the alleged time frame of his death, until sometime around Oct. 15, 2021, when the pair purchased and activated new phones, according to court documents.
Court documents contain a text exchange between Dauphinais’s and Stapf’s phones the morning of Sept. 24, 2021, that read as follows:
“9:34:47 A.M. Stapf phone 1: Lol so much! Ugh I feel like a whole load of bricks just was removed off my chest..
“9:36:59 A.M. Dauphinais phone 1: Seriously, like i can breathe and be free. I was a prisoner for so long baby. It was hell, it wasn’t how I wanted [J.S.] to be raised. She deserves the whole world. We deserve nothing but happiness and health. Time to kick ass and make moves. Time to create a life our beautiful children deserve.
“9:41:02A.M. Dauphinais phone 1: I can’t wait to go places with you babe.”
Not seen in months
Law enforcement began looking for Dauphinais and Stapf on Oct. 14, 2021, after the state Division for Children, Youth and Families told Merrimack police that Lewis had not been seen in months. Later, police said Lewis had been seen within the previous month.
Prosecutors allege Dauphinais and Stapf encouraged others to lie about Elijah’s whereabouts, according to witness-tampering charges.
Prosecutors allege in court documents that Dauphinais and Stapf ditched their phones while on the run, then paid for and activated two SimpleMobile prepaid cellular phones with cash and merchandise cards at a Target store in Burlington, Mass.
Ayer police received a 911 call about two juveniles who had been fishing at Sandy Pond on Snake Hill Road in Ayer when they found a cellular phone in the water. One of the juveniles turned the phone on, saw the last name “Stapf” in the contents of the phone and contacted police when a Google search of Stapf’s name showed a news article about the search for Elijah, court documents state. The phone was recovered by Ayer police and turned over to investigators with New Hampshire State Police.
After several days of searching for evidence near the Merrimack home where Lewis and Dauphinais lived, authorities launched a search of Ames Nowell State Park in Abington, Mass., a town about 30 minutes southeast of Boston.
On Oct. 23, a New Hampshire State Police cadaver dog located Elijah’s body buried in a roughly dug, shallow hole in a wooded area in Abington near an apartment complex at 585 Chestnut St. — consistent with the area where location data placed Dauphinais’ and Stapf’s newly purchased cellphones between Oct. 14, 2021, at 11 p.m. and Oct. 15, 2021, at 12:52 a.m.
A text-message chain between the two phones included in court documents between Oct. 14 and 15 reads as follows:
“11:28:49 P.M. Dauphinais Phone 2: You ok?
“11:29:24 P.M. Stapf Phone 2: Have to get thru a swamp. Fml
“11:29:54 P.M. Dauphinais Phone 2: Are you serious
“11:36:54 P.M. Dauphinais Phone 2: Keep me posted
“11:37:22 P.M. Stapf Phone 2: This is tough. Big roots. Let me try.
“11:37:45 P.M. Stapf Phone 2: I have to get it done.
“11:37:47 P.M. Stapf Phone 2: Ugh”
Prosecutors are also looking to introduce evidence from Dauphinais’ Facebook Messenger account they believe refers to Elijah, including an April 20, 2021, message saying, “He said he wants food and he wants me to stop starving him because it’s not nice.”
After police began looking for Elijah, Dauphinais allegedly told investigators the boy was with a sister in California in Texas with her brother.
In their latest motions, prosecutors argue “the defendant’s statements and actions are evidence of her guilty mind.”
Stapf is expected to testify against Dauphinais when her trial begins in October.
