Paulsboro man accused of killing 9-year-old girl will remain in jail, judge rules
Sean Scott, 45, is charged with first-degree murder and related crimes in the death of Maya Thomas.
A Paulsboro man accused of killing his 9-year-old stepdaughter will remain incarcerated until his case is resolved, a judge ruled Friday following a hearing in Gloucester County Superior Court.
Sean Scott, 45, was taken into custody last week, after police accused him of killing Maya Thomas and fabricating a story that she had been struck by a vehicle while walking the family dog.
The girl’s mother, India Miller, 27, was also arrested in connection with her daughter’s death. Both Scott and Miller are charged with first-degree murder, making fictitious reports to police, and other related offenses.
Following their arrests, prosecutors asked that the couple be held without bail until their case is resolved.
On Friday, Scott appeared virtually before Judge Michael Silvanio and waived his right to challenge prosecutors’ request that he remain in jail, agreeing to stay incarcerated.
A detention hearing for Miller has been scheduled for Tuesday.
The case against the couple began with a 911 call Oct. 13 reporting that Maya had been seriously injured.
Paulsboro police officers who responded to the call found Maya unconscious and breathless at the couple’s Swedesboro Avenue home, and attempts to revive her failed, they said. She died later that day at Cooper University Hospital.
The couple told officers that they believed Maya had been struck by a vehicle as she walked the dog sometime after midnight that day. They described the sound of screeching tires, and said Scott had found Maya outside, collapsed near a shed.
Officers searched for evidence of a hit-and-run, including damaged vehicles parked in the area and surveillance camera footage that had captured a crash, they said. But they found none.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, medical staff told investigators that Maya’s injuries didn’t align with being struck by a vehicle, according to the couple’s arrest complaints. And later, an autopsy found extensive blunt-force wounds on Maya’s body, including trauma to both eyes, a ruptured colon, abrasions on her lower body, and multiple broken ribs in various stages of healing.
At the couple’s home, officers found children’s clothing in an upstairs bathtub and what they believed was blood on the bathroom floor, a Swiffer WetJet, and cleaning supplies.
Maya’s 4-year-old sibling has since been removed from the couple’s home, a spokesperson for the state Department of Children and Families said. The agency is also investigating allegations that Maya was physically and sexually abused.
