A 2-year-old girl who was found dead at her mother’s boyfriend’s home last month was allegedly killed by the man in 2019, and New Jersey police say her mother never reported her disappearance.
Edison police performed a welfare check for Monique Durham’s twin 5-year-old daughters on July 26. An investigation that initially determined that one of the girls had been missing since 2019 also revealed that Durham’s boyfriend, Matthew Chiles, 29, years earlier, according to WABC.
The Edison Division of Child Protection and Permanency contacted local police concerning the girl’s welfare after speaking with Durham, 27, Fox News reported.
Durham’s daughter would have been five today, but authorities believe Chiles killed her when she was a toddler. The twins’ biological father had not been involved in their lives since birth, according to WABC.
The mother of Chile’s son alleged, “My son told me the last memory of my he has of his little sister was she was getting a spanking by her parents and after they spanked her they put her in the bed. My son said he was looking through the door and she was unresponsive.”
Meanwhile, sources told WABC that the girl’s remains were found in Chiles’ basement in Perth Amboy.
According to the news outlet, CPS was contacted in November and February of this year regarding abuse allegations involving the surviving child. Durham allegedly failed to turn over the girl to CPS from February through June of 2022, leading the agency to contact the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Edison police.
WABC reported that there is a history of domestic violence between Chiles and Durham, and Durham previously told a CPS worker she was not safe.
Chiles is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and second-degree desecration of human remains. Durham is charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and theft.
A detention hearing for Durham and Chiles is scheduled for Friday.
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[Featured image: WABC video screengrab]
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