CONTENT WARNING: Description of child neglect, unhealthy living conditions.
"Just take me to jail." Those are the words a Lima mother reportedly told the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office undersheriff on Thursday, Oct. 16, after reporting that her almost-three-year-old son had been sick for months and now was dead.
The mother, Nichole Lynn Boyer, remains behind bars in the Beaverhead County Jail on a charge of deliberate homicide in the death of her disabled son. Bail is set at $500,000.
According to charging documents, Boyer had called dispatch and met the undersheriff outside the home on Main Street. When law enforcement entered the home, they observed the smell of decomposing human remains.
Describing the entirety of the home in poor condition, with the floors and surfaces throughout the home covered in trash and rotten food, as well as animal urine and feces, EMS was directed to an upstairs bedroom where the deceased child was located on a pile of laundry, bedsheets, trash and other items next to a mattress. The boy was covered with a sweatshirt and reportedly appeared to be in "an advanced state of decomposition."
The boy reportedly suffered from spina bifida, club feet and hydrocephalus, a condition in which fluid accumulates in the brain. Boyer allegedly indicated the boy could only "army crawl" as a result of his medical conditions.
Court documents state the bedroom where the boy was found was "filthy," covered in trash, diapers and other items. Law enforcement noted that an air conditioning unit was running in the bedroom.
Three other minor children and another adult were reportedly removed from the home during the investigation.
When interviewed, Boyer reportedly indicated that her son had fallen ill during the summer, with a fever, but she attributed it to teething. She allegedly stated that she would check on the boy three to four times a day, delivering food and water at that time. Boyer reportedly stated that she did not remember the whole month of September and made several comments about needing to go to jail.
Law enforcement spoke with Boyer's family members, including her mother, her stepfather, and her biological father.
Boyer's mother reportedly said she spoke with Boyer on Oct. 16th for the better part of an hour, when Boyer allegedly made statements that she was a horrible person, a horrible mother, that she is going to jail for life, and that everyone will hate her.
During an interview with DCI agents, Boyer reportedly said that her son could sit up on his own, but could only "army crawl" around due to his medical conditions, adding that he had the speech development of a 1-year-old child, despite being almost three years old.
Boyer allegedly told DCI agents that she became "overwhelmed" in August with tending to the three other minor children, ill, in the home, as well as her father, who was also sick. She also reportedly said at some point in September, she got overwhelmed and stopped caring for the child, stating, "I believe I should have done more," and agreed that her lack of care led to the boy's death.
She allegedly added that she knew the boy "had passed in September, but convinced herself that he was still alive. She didn't want to accept his death, until that morning (Oct. 16) when she finally 'called the police on myself.'"
