Maylis Daubon, accused of poisoning her two daughters, one of whom died in 2019, by dousing them with drugs, declared her innocence Monday on the first day of her trial, denying the lies she is accused of. The 53-year-old, since her indictment in 2022, has claimed that her eldest child, Enea, who died at the age of 18, committed suicide, a hypothesis ruled out by investigators and many of her relatives.
“I am afraid to be here, accused of a terrible act” that “nothing in the world could force me to do,” said the woman who also appeared before the Landes Assize Court, until December 3, because she wanted her ex-husband, the father of the children, killed by bribing fellow inmates at the Pau prison. “I am innocent (…), I am devastated by the death of my child, this is an immeasurable sadness,” he added.
On November 13, 2019, around midday, she asked for help, having been told by her youngest child – Luan – about a seizure by her sister Enea, at the family home in Dax. An ambulance found him in his bed in respiratory distress, resuscitating him but he died six days later in hospital.
The investigation into the cause of death, other than a drug overdose, revealed major parental conflict. Since their divorce in 2009, Maylis Daubon and Yannick Reverdy, a former international handball player, have been torn apart over their daughter.
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Analysis of the deceased’s body revealed a large intake – “equivalent to 50 to 75 tablets” – of Propranolol, a medication that slows the heart. The experts’ report also revealed 22 different molecules and “regular and significant consumption of marijuana.”
In the previous months, the young girl had been prescribed a number of neuroleptics, anxiolytic sedatives, seizure medications and antidepressants. Investigators estimate he saw nearly 30 doctors during his youth.
For the father, who will be examined on Tuesday, his daughter “has no abnormalities”, her mother “found” drugs to put her “under psychological, then chemical influence”. A psychologist from Child Protection, who intervened in 2018 in the face of Enea’s abnormal absences from school, mentioned the possibility of Münchhausen syndrome by proxy – a diagnosis that was not “clearly made” by psychiatric experts during the investigation, according to the defense.
This syndrome causes parents to exaggerate or provoke serious health problems in their children, in order to attract attention or affection. In August 2019, Maylis Daubon told those around her that she was preparing for the funeral of her daughter, who was in palliative care for leukemia.
Her other daughter was also said to have been drugged
“No one really knew what Enea was sick with,” a police officer told the court, recalling the “many versions” the defendant gave to explain her death: “choking, heart attack, heart defect, sudden death in an adult, epilepsy.”
Personality investigators showed “excessive” emotionality, while evoking the “devoted” and “present” mother figure portrayed by the family environment – except for the ex-husband.
Asked about different professions – nuclear engineer, professor at the Sorbonne, blue helmets in Sarajevo, etc. – which he would boast to various witnesses, Maylis Daubon, who declared herself on Monday as a “continuing education advisor”, debunked any myths.
“It’s just nonsense, why would I expose myself to say such nonsense?”, he said, while the prosecutor pointed to the “need to be in the spotlight”. “He created a profession, perhaps, so what? Does that make him a poisoner? », answered his lawyer, Me Carine Monzat.
In the box, as the deposition continued, most of the defendant had his head down Monday, looking at the ground. She must also explain inconsistencies noted in her statement about what happened on the morning of November 13, 2019. If the mother maintains the suicide theory, Enea had “future plans” – taking a driving test or returning to school – according to her sister.
Luan’s own absence reinforced suspicions and analysis revealed traces of drugs – codeine, anxiolytic sedatives, sleeping pills or antidepressants – in her hair, without a medical prescription, leading to new charges against Maylis Daubon. The youngest, who never wanted to implicate him, will be questioned as a witness this week.
