An Indiana man has been sentenced to 92 years in prison for killing his 3-month-old son by drowning the infant in a “bucket of laundry detergent”— all to “teach his wife a lesson.”
Tippecanoe Superior Court Judge Steve Meyer handed down the sentence to 29-year-old Eliasard Moneus, who pleaded guilty in May to murder and attempted murder. He received 62 years for murdering his son, Jacob Moneus, and 30 years for attempting to kill his wife. The sentences will run consecutively.
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During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors detailed the chilling crime.
“It doesn’t really get worse than this,” said Deputy Prosecutor Elyse Madigan, according to the Journal & Courier. “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.”
Madigan told the court that Moneus acted out of a twisted desire to punish his wife, Edlie, for showing him “disrespect.”
“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.”
Speaking through a French Creole interpreter, Moneus apologized for the pain he caused. But Judge Meyer wasn’t moved.
“You killed your own child,” Meyer said. “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.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, Lafayette police responded to a hospital on Aug. 10, 2024, for a domestic violence report. Moneus’ wife, who had a fractured skull, told officers her husband had beaten her with a tire iron or wrench before fleeing with their infant son.
Officers went to the couple’s home and found blood and signs of an assault, but no sign of Jacob. The following day, police arrested Moneus. During questioning, he admitted to beating his wife but claimed he didn’t know where the baby was.
A second search of the home on Aug. 11, 2024, led to the discovery of Jacob’s body in a sealed orange bucket filled with dark liquid.
“The orange bucket had the lid attached to the bucket and was located next to the trash can in the kitchen,” the affidavit stated. “A young male infant believed to be [Jacob] was located deceased in a dark-colored liquid inside of the orange bucket once the lid was removed.”
An autopsy confirmed the baby died from asphyxia after being submerged in the detergent.
