Edison woman collected child support for daughter killed by boyfriend, affidavit charges
Court papers in the case of a 2-year-old Middlesex County girl killed in 2019 reveal a history of abuse and deception, including the girl's mother allegedly continuing to collect child support payments from the girl's father, despite knowing she had died three years earlier.
The mother's boyfriend, Matthew Chiles, 29 of Perth Amboy, was charged last week with the killing of the child, and the girl's mother, Monique Durham, 27, of Edison, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office announced.
Chiles also was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly abusing the twin sisters and desecration of human remains, both second-degree crimes.
Durham additionally was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly watching Chiles strike her children on numerous occasions without notifying police, and one count of theft for allegedly collecting child support on the girl who died in 2019.
The couple are being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick pending a detention hearing.
Police said in court papers obtained by MyCentralJersey.com that Durham's 2-year-old twin daughter was taken into the basement of a Perth Amboy home and physically abused by Chiles before the child died.
Durham gave a statement to police indicating Chiles murdered her daughter on June 8, 2019, at his father's home in Perth Amboy and she watched him walk out of the home with the child's body in his arms, according to court papers.
Durham said Chiles returned without the child's body and told her it would be better if she didn't know where he had hidden her, court papers said.
The next day the couple told family members the child was adopted overnight and wouldn’t be returning home, and family were forbidden from every mentioning the child's name again, according to court papers.
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Durham allegedly continued to collect child support payments from the twin's father, despite knowing one of the girls had died three years earlier, court papers said.
Durham also gave a statement detailing years of alleged abuse by Chiles toward her and her children and how he allegedly assaulted one of the twins in a bedroom, leaving her with a bruise on her face and walking with a limp, according to court papers. Durham said Chiles had physically abused both twins over the years, court papers said.
The criminal investigation was prompted when the state Department of Child Protection and Permanency and Edison police responded on Feb. 23, 2022, for a welfare check of Durham's 5-year-old daughter, according to court papers.
The mother attempted to hide the child under a bed to skirt authorities who eventually learned the child had a twin sister, the court papers said.
Durham told authorities she gave up custody of the twin girl to the child's paternal aunt in North Carolina, and the twins’ father pays court-ordered child support for both children, according to court papers.
The case was transferred to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit and with assistance from Greensboro, North Carolina; Edison and Perth Amboy police, authorities discovered the paternal aunt didn’t exist, according to court papers. The children's father told police he had no involvement in his daughters’ lives outside of paying child support, court papers said.
A welfare check of the Edison residence where Durham and Chiles lived found no children or Durham, according to court papers. Chiles was located at his father's home in Perth Amboy and consented to law enforcement searching the home for the twins with no results, court papers said.
In addition, many family members were contacted, and all denied knowing Durham’s location or the location of the children, according to court papers, and no family members reported seeing one of the twins since 2019.
In video recorded statements, other relatives of the couple reported witnessing Chiles allegedly abusing the twins, according to court papers. The relatives reported that last time they saw one of the twins is when Chiles allegedly took her into the basement where she was heard being physically abused and crying, court papers said. After the crying stopped a relative went into the basement where the child was seen on a bed not moving or making any sounds, court papers said.
During the middle of that same night, a door was heard opening and Chiles left the house, according to court papers. The next morning Durham and Chiles allegedly informed family members the twin girl had been adopted during the overnight hours and would not be returning home, court papers said. From that day on they were forbidden to mention the child's name, court papers said.
On July 26, 2022, a day after law enforcement met with Department of Child Protection and Permanency personnel on an anonymous report of a girl being abused by her mother's boyfriend and a twin sister that had not been located for several years, Edison police and Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office officers checked Durham's Edison apartment and found it vacant, court papers said.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact Perth Amboy police at 732-442-4400, Edison police at 732-248-7400 or the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at 732-745-3927.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Edison woman collected child support for slain daughter: affidavit
