ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Mich. – A 3-year-old Port Huron Township boy was found dead in February 2018.
Now, more than seven years later, two people are facing first-degree murder charges in his death.
Maison and Houle arraigned
Matthew Maison’s mother, Amanda Maison, 33, and her former boyfriend, Maurice Houle, 28, were arraigned on Monday, April 14, 2025.
Houle was arraigned on one count of first-degree murder and three counts of resisting and obstructing a police officer, and Maison was arraigned on one count of first-degree murder.
Not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Houle and Maison. Bond was denied for both of them.
You can watch the full hearing in the video at the top of this article.
Houle’s charges related to resisting officers stem from when he was arrested on Friday, April 11.
He allegedly was extremely violent and fought eight different officers, injuring one of them. St. Clair County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Sparling said they only charged him with three counts, but there could have been more.
Evidence of abuse throughout Matthew’s life
When they were brought in, authorities learned about an alleged scheme where Houle and Maison came up with a lie about how Matthew sustained some of his previous injuries, according to Sparling. One of the people allegedly involved in this scheme of lies was Houle’s mother.
“This case is an extremely serious case. Obviously, we have charges of felony murder substantiated by child abuse in the first degree,” said Sparling. “We have a young child who was the victim here. This young child, Matthew, suffered years of abuse at the hands of both defendants.”
Sparling said both defendants admitted to investigators that the other had abused Matthew.
The prosecuting attorney said Matthew would be hit across his face by Houle and would be put in timeout on his knees and have his head banged on the drywall. The boy was also locked in his room for hours without food or water, and there was a time when Houle placed a pillow over Matthew’s face “and pretended like he was playing,” Sparling said.
The autopsy showed that Matthew died from blunt force trauma from his injuries and possible suffocation, according to Sparling.
Houle was also the subject of multiple CPS investigations over injuries to Matthew throughout the boy’s life.
The assistant prosecuting attorney also said that this was part of a plan that was “put forth to kill Matthew to make room for a child that the two of them could have together.”
Maison is accused of covering up the abuse that Matthew received from Houle and herself for years. She allegedly admitted to investigators that she also would shove the boy’s head into the drywall “forceful enough to remove the backing of the drywall itself,” according to Sparling.
She told investigators that she saw Houle hold a pillow over Matthew’s face multiple times.
Maison also admitted to lying about the abuse, lying about what she had originally told police officers, and lying to CPS during previous investigations. The mother also allegedly admitted that she hadn’t taken Matthew to doctor’s appointments because she didn’t want them to see his injuries.
Sparling shared these instances of abuse in his argument as to why Houle and Maison shouldn’t receive bond.
Next court dates
Houle and Maison are scheduled to appear in court again on April 22 for probable cause conferences and April 29 for preliminary examinations.
