LAFAYETTE, IN — Eliasard Moneus slouched in his chair Tuesday morning at the defense table inside Tippecanoe Superior 2 as Judge Steve Meyer sentenced the Haitian immigrant to 92 years in prison.
Moneus, 29, didn’t flinch, and at times, he had a pained look on his face. Only after the sentence was pronounced did Moneus appear to show some slight sign of emotion, wiping his eyes.
Tuesday, July 1, was the conclusion of nearly 11 months of legal proceedings that started the afternoon of Aug. 10 as police investigated Moneus’ brutal assault on his wife and a statewide search for the couple’s 3-month-old son, Jacob.
“It doesn’t really get worse than this,” Tippecanoe County deputy prosecutor Elyse Madigan told the judge before sentencing. “A father put his 3-month-old son face down in a bucket of laundry detergent, sealed the lid, left his son to die, and then went to the next room and viciously attacked the baby’s mother.
“Jacob drowned in the bucket swallowing 100 ml of detergent while he died.”
Moneus’ statements to his wife, Edlie, after his arrest showed a lack of remorse, Madigan said.
“The defendant wanted to teach Edlie — and women — a lesson,” Madigan said. “You can’t disrespect a man. The defendant said repeatedly he didn’t care what the consequences were. He could not live without teaching Edlie a lesson, and he didn’t care if he spent the rest of his life in prison, which is exactly where he belongs.”
Moneus is likely destined to spend the rest of his life in prison. Meyer sentenced Moneus to 62 years for murder and 30 years for attempted murder. The sentences run consecutively.
Moneus will have to serve 75% of the 92-year sentence, which equals 69 years. He’s already served more than a year in pretrial detention, leaving roughly 67 years before he can be released. Moneus will be 97 years old by the time he’s completed his sentence.
Moneus does not speak English, but a French Creole interpreter read Moneus’ statements to the court before sentencing.
“This is not what I wish for my future,” Moneus said in a written statement referring to his lengthy sentence. “But this is what is present in my life today. I would like to present my apologies to all of you in the community reading and hearing about this situation.
“I left the country of Haiti to look for a better life elsewhere so I could be able to help myself and my family. But things were not easy for me,” Moneus said.
“I had chosen to leave those other countries and come to the United States because I thought things were going to be easier for me here,” he said. “If I knew I was to be involved in such a problem, I would never have come here. I would have gone back to my country.”
Coming to the United States led to trouble and misfortune, he said.
“I’m living with remorse, with pain, stress that will never go away as long as I’m alive,” Moneus said in his written statement. “I never thought I, Eliasard, could have been a prisoner for one day.
“My apology for what had happened.”
The apology didn’t seem to carry much weight with the judge or those in the courtroom’s gallery, including his son’s mother.
Meyer took three years off the maximum 65-year sentence for murder, explaining the leniency was because Moneus pleaded guilty, sparing the victim, the police officers and the community from having to see the photos of baby Jacob’s death.
“I think it’s important to start out this day remembering little Jacob, a 3-month-old defenseless little baby whose mother described him as a bundle of joy,” Meyer said. “His entire life was taken away by the man who was his biological father.
“You killed your own child,” Meyer said, his voice raising with firmness and anger. “I can’t think of a worse crime. This is one of the most grotesque murders I have ever had to see.
“The thought of putting a 3-month-old upside down into a bucket of laundry detergent is unimaginable,” Meyer said as one of Jacob’s family members in the courtroom let out a groan of pain and agreement.
Moneus indicated he does not intend to appeal his sentence, but if he does, he has 30 days to notify the court.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Man who drowned his baby in laundry detergent sentenced to 92 years in prison
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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