CONTENT WARNING: Description of child neglect, unhealthy living conditions.
MISSOULA - "Just take me to jail." Those were the words a Lima woman reportedly told the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office undersheriff on Thursday after reporting that her young son had been sick for months and was now dead.
The woman, Nichole Lynn Boyer, is behind bars in the Beaverhead County jail on a charge of deliberate homicide for the death of her 2-year-old disabled son. Her bond was set at $500,000.
According to charging documents, on Oct. 16 Boyer called dispatch and met the undersheriff outside the home on Main Street. When law enforcement entered the home, they noticed the smell of decomposing human remains.
Officers described the home as being in poor condition, with the floors and surfaces throughout covered in trash and rotten food, as well as animal urine and feces.
Medical responders were 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 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 removed from the home during the investigation.
When interviewed, Boyer indicated that her son had fallen ill during the summer with a fever, but she attributed it to teething, court records state.
She stated that she would check on the boy three to four times a day, delivering food and water at that time. Boyer stated that she did not remember the whole month of September and made several comments about needing to go to jail, according to court records.
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. 16 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 state law enforcement 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 3 years old.
Boyer allegedly told the 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 when she finally 'called the police on myself.'"
