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Eliasard Moneus accused of killing his young son Jacob in Lafayette

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Eliasard Moneus bristled when Tippecanoe County Judge Sarah Wyatt asked him if he understood the charges read to him in court, which include the murder of his 3-month-old son, Jacob, on Saturday and attempted murder in connection with the attack on his wife.

“Yes, I heard everything you said, but…” Moneus said through the court-appointed Haitian Creole translator for the initial hearing on Thursday.

“Would it be fair to say that you understand what I have read to you but disagree with some or all of the allegations?” Wyatt asked, trying to bridge the language barrier.

“In fact, I have heard everything you say and I understand it,” Moneus replied through his translator, “but when it comes to killing people, I know nothing.”

The public prosecutor assumes that Moneus knows about this.

Moneus was charged with murder. He allegedly stuffed his infant son into a bucket of liquid laundry detergent and closed the lid. The thick liquid made it impossible for baby Jacob to breathe and he suffocated or drowned him in the detergent, according to autopsy results.

Moneus left the orange bucket next to the trash can at the apartment in the 2500 block of Lexington Court in Acorn Acres and left the house, according to prosecutors. His wife said she thought he was gone for about 30 minutes, then he came back with a tire iron and hit her while she was trying to watch a televised church service, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, the attack left her with a skull fracture and cuts.

She drove to the hospital herself, triggering a day-long search for Moneus and the baby.

Moneus left his apartment and drove south. According to prosecutors and police, Indianapolis police detained him in the northeast part of the city until Lafayette police arrested him.

Moneus said he hoped his wife had succumbed to her injuries and denied knowing anything about Jacob's whereabouts, according to prosecutors.

Shortly before 5 a.m. on Sunday morning, officers searched Moneus' apartment again. One of the officers opened a sealed bucket of liquid laundry detergent and discovered baby Jacob inside.

At the first hearing on Thursday, the 28-year-old Haitian immigrant appeared worried or frightened as the charges and possible sentences were read out.

The translator repeated Wyatt's words from the bench and told Moneus that he faces 45 to 65 years in prison if convicted of murdering his son and 20 to 40 years if convicted of attempted murder of his wife.

In addition, prosecutors on Thursday charged Moneus with aggravated assault, false imprisonment, assault causing serious injury and domestic violence with a deadly weapon.

Wyatt entered a not guilty plea for Moneus and appointed a public defender.

She informed him about the ban on contact with his wife and had him sign a form acknowledging the order.

Moneus is being held without bail pending his trial.

In a motion for bail filed Thursday, prosecutors amended their language on Moneus' immigration status, stating: “The defendant is not a U.S. citizen, but a Haitian citizen. The state is investigating whether the defendant is lawfully present in the United States.”

The bail application form noted that Moneus had little or no ties to the community and that he posed a danger to himself and others.

Moneus' trial is scheduled to begin on January 21 in Tippecanoe Superior 2. However, trial dates are often postponed for various reasons.

Reach Ron Wilkins at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

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