Inset: Nichole L. Boyer (Beaverhead County Jail). Background: The Beaverhead County Jail (Google Maps).
A 28-year-old mother in Montana is accused of fatally neglecting her special-needs toddler, allegedly telling police she became "overwhelmed" and just stopped bringing the 2-year-old food and water several weeks earlier. Nichole Lynn Boyer was taken into custody earlier this month and charged with one count of deliberate homicide in her young son's horrific death, court records show.
The victim was said to be "significantly disabled," as he suffered from spina bifida, club feet, and hydrocephalus (a condition that causes significant pressure on the brain).
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by East Idaho News, deputies with the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office responded to a call on Oct. 16 about a deceased child at a residence in the 300 block of Main Street in Lima, Montana, which is about a 350-mile drive west of Billings. The caller identified herself as Boyer, who said her son had been "sick for months and was now deceased."
Upon arriving, first responders said Boyer made a statement to the effect of "just take me to jail." Deputies said they quickly "observed the smell of decomposing human remains" when they went inside the home, which was also covered in "trash and rotten food, as well as animal urine and feces."
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EMS directed deputies to an upstairs bedroom where they found the boy "on a pile of laundry, bedsheets, trash, and other items on the floor next to a mattress."
"The child was covered up with a sweatshirt that Boyer later indicated belonged to her," the affidavit said. "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.
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