PORT HURON, Mich. (Court TV) — A mother admitted through tears to failing her son at her sentencing on Friday, as she faced punishment for killing her 3-year-old.
Amanda Maison appears at her sentencing hearing on Sept. 11, 2026. (Court TV)
Amanda Maison, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her son, Matthew Maison, who was killed in 2018. Maison initially pleaded guilty in 2025, but her sentencing was delayed because she had promised to testify against her co-defendant, Maurice Houle, 29.
Houle also pleaded guilty, avoiding a trial, and was sentenced to 31 to 60 years in prison for Matthew’s murder. At the time the child was killed, Maison and Houle were dating and living together with Houle’s mother. Prosecutors said that Houle beat Matthew regularly, often while Maison was at work.
Maison’s plea agreement with prosecutors called for a sentence of 9 to 15 years, but Maison’s attorney urged the judge to give her seven and a half years in prison. “My client was overwhelmed by the situation she found herself in with Mr. Houle,” Maison’s attorney, Sharon Parrish, said Friday. “She had past abuse in her lifetime, especially in the home she was raised in.”
“I think seven and a half years is a ridiculous ask,” prosecutor Joshua Sparling said, noting there was no record in the court file or in any of Maison’s previous statements to indicate that she had been the victim of abuse. “I would ask the court to consider what child did actually suffer abuse.”
Sparling conceded Houle was Matthew’s primary abuser. “It generally was not this defendant that was doing the abuse, that was not hitting Matthew, that was not pushing him down, that was not dragging him, locking him in his room, things of that nature. She did admit to participating at least one or two other times in military time-outs and placing this child’s head against a wall,” he said. “She’s not entirely innocent … she’s the mom here. I don’t know any moms, nor do I want to know any mothers that are willing to turn a blind eye on their children.”
Matthew Maison (Amy Maison via Facebook)
As her father and stepmother delivered victim impact statements, Maison kept her head down and cried, avoiding their gaze.
“We warned her. We warned her that this would happen, staying with him. But that went ignored,” the defendant’s father, David Maison, said in court. “We all loved Matthew, we loved him dearly. Based on the circumstances now, it appears we loved him more than his own mother.”
“You do not deserve forgiveness,” David Maison’s wife, Amy Maison, said. “Matthew deserved better. He deserved love, safety and protection. Instead, we are left with eight years of pain, unanswered questions, and a lifetime of missing him.”
Addressing the court from the podium, Amanda Maison apologized. “I stand before you today to take accountability for my past actions. My lack of action is what led to the death of my son, Matthew, and that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” she said. “Not only was Matthew a victim of Maurice’s abuse, but I was as well, emotionally and mentally… I’m forever sorry that I failed my duty as a parent.”
Judge Cynthia Lane said that it was “the actions of Mr. Houle that ultimately resulted in Matthew’s death,” but said the defendant “aided and abetted, and in some ways, encouraged” him. “That is not to say that Ms. Maison bears no culpability,” she said. “However, the court is of the opinion that the lion’s share of the culpability lies with Maurice Houle.”
Lane sentenced Amanda Maison to 9 to 15 years in prison, with credit for 518 days served.
“Disappointed,” David Maison said outside of the courthouse after the sentencing ended. “She definitely deserved more.”
