Nicole Boyer, a 28-year-old mother from Lima, Montana, is charged with deliberate homicide in the September 2025 death of her nearly three-year-old disabled son, Samuel “Sammy” Dean Duet, whose decomposing body was found in an upstairs bedroom of the family’s Main Street home on October 16, 2025. She has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she faces 10 to 100 years in Montana state prison.1NBC Montana. Mother of Deceased Lima Child Pleads Not Guilty to Deliberate Homicide
The Charges Boyer Faces
Boyer was arrested the same day Sammy’s body was discovered. Prosecutors in Beaverhead County filed one felony count of deliberate homicide under Montana Code § 45-5-102 and one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of children, the misdemeanor count covering not only Sammy but two other minor children living in the home.2KRTV. Mother and Grandfather Plead Not Guilty in Death of Disabled Toddler The case is docketed in Beaverhead County District Court as DC-1-2025-0004336-IN.
At her first district court appearance on October 28, 2025, before Judge Luke Berger in Dillon, Boyer pleaded not guilty. Bail was set at $500,000, and she remains in the Beaverhead County Jail.3KXLF. Lima Mother Enters Not Guilty Plea in Death of Disabled Toddler
How Sammy Was Found
Sammy was born in 2022 with spina bifida, hydrocephalus, and club feet. He could only army crawl, and his speech was at the level of a one-year-old. He lived with his mother, his grandfather Christopher Cox, and three other minor children.
On October 16, 2025, Boyer called 911 to report that her son had been sick for months and was now dead. When law enforcement arrived, Boyer told the undersheriff, “Just take me to jail.”3KXLF. Lima Mother Enters Not Guilty Plea in Death of Disabled Toddler Officers found Sammy’s body in an advanced state of decomposition, lying on a pile of laundry, bedsheets, and trash next to a mattress and covered by a sweatshirt. An air conditioning unit was running in the room despite an outdoor high of only 44 degrees.4KRTV. Montana Woman Enters Plea in Death of Disabled Toddler
Court filings described the rest of the home as being in “extreme conditions,” with floors and surfaces covered in trash, rotting food, animal urine, and feces.5Montana Right Now. Lima Woman Charged With Deliberate Homicide for Death of Disabled Child The Montana Department of Criminal Investigation removed three other minor children and one adult from the residence.
What Boyer Told Investigators
According to the probable cause affidavit, Boyer said Sammy had fallen ill in July or August 2025 with what she described as cold, fever, and teething symptoms. She never took him to a doctor, relying instead on home care and a nebulizer.6NBC Montana. Motion and Affidavit for Leave to File Information
Boyer told investigators she became “overwhelmed” in August 2025 while caring for three other children and her ailing father. She said she “stopped caring” for Sammy and “didn’t prioritize him,” and that she eventually stopped giving him water in September 2025. She said she could not remember the month of September at all.4KRTV. Montana Woman Enters Plea in Death of Disabled Toddler She said she knew Sammy had died in September but “convinced herself that he was still alive” until she called police on October 16.
Prosecutors quoted her in the affidavit as saying, “My lack of not paying attention and prioritizing other things over him led to him dying.” In the days before the 911 call, Boyer allegedly told her own mother that she was “a horrible person, a horrible mother,” that she was “going to jail for life,” and that “everyone will hate her.” Her mother also told investigators that Boyer had made suicidal threats in September, including a plan to shoot herself.6NBC Montana. Motion and Affidavit for Leave to File Information
The Grandfather’s Separate Case
Boyer’s father, 48-year-old Christopher Michael Cox, was arrested in January 2026 and charged with one count of felony negligent homicide and one misdemeanor count of child endangerment. Prosecutors allege Cox failed to provide basic care and necessities for his grandson, a child he knew was disabled and dependent on others.7KRTV. Second Person Charged in Connection With Lima Child’s Death
Cox told investigators he “rarely saw the child” because Sammy had been kept in the upstairs room after becoming sick, and that he could not access the upper floor because of the steepness of the stairs and his own physical condition. He said he believed Boyer was caring for the child and expressed regret that he did not check on Sammy.8Montana Right Now. Man Charged With Negligent Homicide After Police Find Decomposing Child in His House Cox pleaded not guilty in filings dated February 24, 2026, and is also held on $500,000 bail. A negligent homicide conviction in Montana carries up to 20 years in prison.
Where the Case Stands
Both defendants remain jailed in Beaverhead County. No trial date has been publicly reported.
One issue likely to shape the trial surfaced in February 2026, when Boyer’s defense attorney told the court that autopsy results listed the cause of death as “indeterminable.”9KXLF. Lima Mother, Grandfather Plead Not Guilty in Death of Disabled Toddler Found Decomposed in Bedroom Judge Berger had earlier issued an indefinite order barring cremation so defense experts could examine the body, but in April 2026 defense attorney Jack Morris told the court the defense would not seek an independent autopsy and was ready to proceed.10KRTV. Community Plans Toddler’s Funeral as Homicide Cases Proceed With no medical determination of cause of death, prosecutors appear to be relying heavily on Boyer’s own detailed admissions about stopping Sammy’s care.