Mom Accused of Killing 3-Year-Old Son to 'Make Room' for Baby with New Boyfriend Pleads Guilty By Samira Asma-Sadeque

A Michigan woman who was accused alongside her former boyfriend of killing her child has pleaded guilty to the toddler’s 2018 killing.

Matthew Maison, 3, was killed in his home in Port Huron Township, Mich., on Feb. 18, 2018, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office said in April of this year, announcing the arrest of his mother Amanda Maison and Maurice Houle, who was her boyfriend at the time of the little boy’s killing.

Nearly seven months after her arrest, 33-year-old Amanda pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree homicide on Wednesday, Nov. 5, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The investigation began when the child’s babysitters found him dead in his bed, the Times Herald and the Sanilac Broadcasting Company previously reported.

Prosecutors alleged in April that Amanda and Houle, who was 28 at the time of his arrest, killed Matthew in a bid to “make room for a child that the two of them could have together,” ClickOnDetroit reported at the time, St. Clair County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Sparling said in court.

The former couple allegedly admitted to the abuse when they were arrested, prosecutors previously said, per the outlet.

In her court appearance to enter her plea last week, Amanda admitted she abused Matthew, on one occasion pushing his “head into a wall in their home” during a “military time-out,” per the sheriff’s office’s statement.

She told the judge she enabled Houle’s alleged abuse of the child and “willingly participated” in hiding it from child protective services and law enforcement.

She further admitted to “actively contriving a plan to conceal the manner of Matthew’s death from law enforcement,” per the sheriff’s office statement.

The couple, whose relationship ended the day Matthew was killed, had been charged with first-degree murder in April.

They both pleaded not guilty.

Amanda pleaded guilty to second-degree homicide last week.

As part of her plea, Amanda has agreed to testify in the trial of Houle, which is scheduled for sometime early 2026.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.