Mum Admits to Killing 3-Year-Old Son to “Make Room” for Baby with Boyfriend

A mum and her ex-boyfriend have been accused of killing her three-year-old son in order to “make room for a child that the two of them could have together”.

Little Matthew Maison was found dead in the bed of his home in Port Huron Township, Michigan, by his babysitters on February 18, 2018. His mum, Amanda Maison, and Maurice Houle, who was her boyfriend at the time of Matthew’s death, were arrested in connection with the killing. An autopsy showed that Matthew had died from blunt force trauma injuries and possible suffocation.

The ex-couple allegedly admitted to abusing the young boy when they were arrested, prosecutors have previously said. Maison, 33, has pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree homicide in relation to her son’s death, admitting as she appeared in court to enter her plea on November 5 that she abused Matthew.

The mum, 33, said that on one occasion she pushed his “head into a wall in their home” during a “military time-out”, the St Clair County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. During the plea hearing, Maison admitted she had a two-year relationship with Houle, who was 28 at the time of his arrest, from early 2016 up until the date of Matthew’s death.

Maison told the judge she enabled Houle’s alleged abuse of her child, and “willingly participated” in hiding it from child protective services and police. She also admitted to “actively contriving a plan to conceal the manner of Matthew’s death from law enforcement,” the sheriff’s office said.

In a statement, the sheriff’s office said: “Amanda stated that Maurice physically abused Matthew during their relationship, 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. Amanda admitted to also participating in the physical abuse of Matthew, stating that she pushed Matthew’s head into a wall in their home, during a ‘military time out.’

“Further, Amanda admitted that she willfully and wantonly allowed an environment to exist, where Matthew would be systemically abused, and that those abuses eventually resulted in Matthew’s death. Amanda stated that she participated with Maurice Houle in actively contriving a plan to conceal the manner of Matthew’s death from law enforcement.”

When Maison and Houle were brought in, authorites learned of a dark plot where Houle and Maison created a lie about how Matthew had sustained some of his previous injuries, St Clair County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Sparling said. The attorney added that Matthew would be hit across his face by Houle, locked in his room without food or water for hours, and that there was an incidence where Houle placed a pillow over the young boy’s face “and pretended like he was playing”.

“This case is an extremely serious case,” Mr Sparling said. “We have a young child who was the victim here. This young child, Matthew, suffered years of abuse at the hands of both defendants.”

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The assistant prosecuting attorney also alleged there was a plan “put forth to kill Matthew to make room for a child that the two of them could have together.” Maison also allegedly admitted she avoided taking Matthew to doctor’s appointments as she didn’t want them to see his injuries.

The couple had both been charged with first-degree murder in April. They both pleaded not guity. Maison pleaded guilty to second-degree homicide on November 5. As part of her plea, she has agreed to testify in the trial of Houle, scheduled for early 2026.