Woman charged in death of disabled son found in burning shed

A Wilkes-Barre woman has been charged in connection with the death of her disabled adult son, whose body was found in a burning shed at a Plains Township trailer park five years ago this month.

Investigators allege Linasheri D’Onofrio, 55, of Park Avenue, neglected Shain D’Onofrio for years, until the malnourished young man died.

The remains of Shain D’Onofrio, 24, were found in a shed at Lot 232 in the East Mountain Ridge Mobile Home Park on Jumper Road on the morning of Feb. 24, 2018.

According to an affidavit filed in the case, Linasheri D’Onofrio stored her son’s dead body on her own property at neighboring Lot 213 from at least Sept. 5, 2017 until the morning of Feb. 24, 2018, when she moved the remains to the shed and set it on fire.

Police believe D’Onofrio needed to dispose of the remains due to an eviction notice she received two days earlier.

D’Onofrio was arraigned Wednesday before Thomas F. Malloy, Sr. on felony charges of neglect of a care-dependent person and reckless burning or exploding.

A firefighter raking through embers at the site after the fire was brought under control discovered a blanket containing bones and a partial skull. Investigation later revealed the remains to be those of Shain D’Onofrio, while the fire was ruled an arson.

“The years-long investigation, together with expert analysis, determined that D’Onofrio died as a result of long-term neglect at the hands of his mother, Linasheri D’Onofrio,” Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement released this afternoon.

Following arraignment D’Onofrio was committed to the Luzerne County Correction Facility without bail due to being a threat to herself and the community at large, according to court documents. A preliminary hearing in this case is scheduled for March 1 at 9:30 a.m. in front of Judge Malloy.

An affidavit filed in the case pieces together the steps investigators took leading to D’Onofrio’s arrest, as well as evidence of neglect prior to her son’s death.

As reported by the Times Leader in numerous stories, the case involved numerous unanswered questions, allegations of neglect, and multiple aliases used by the mother, who previously was charged in connection with other alleged crimes.

The details below come from the affidavit filed Wednesday.

Investigation at the scene

A park handyman interviewed by investigators on the day of the fire said he had recently worked on the mobile home and shed at Lot 232. The shed had been cleaned out five days earlier and was completely empty, other than a door that had been left behind.

A forensic anthropology team recovered the skeletal remains on the day after the fire. They were partially clothed, with white gauze bandages wrapped around the elbow joints, a toddler-sized diaper around the torso, sweatpants and a stained shirt. Investigators believed they belonged to a “small-framed” human being between the ages of 18 and 30.

Neighbors interviewed by investigators said a disabled child lived in the home at Lot 213, which was behind lot 232, but the child had not been seen in the recent past.

Interviews revealed the woman to be known as Layla McCool, who lived in the trailer with a man named Ronald Heck and her wheelchair-bound child.

McCool (D’Onofrio) was interviewed on Feb. 26, 2018, and told police her real name was Layla Maria Genovese. She told police when the fire started she was banging on her neighbors’ trailers to wake them.

“When being interviewed outside her residence, Genovese would not look at the scene of the fire and would change the subject,” the affidavit states.

When told that neighbors said she had a disabled child living with her, Genovese said the person was her brother, but at times in the interview she also called him her son, identifying him as David Genovese. She told investigators that “David” was then living with her mother in New Jersey, though she would neither name the mother nor say where in New Jersey, “because they are in the Witness Protection Program.”

“Genovese related she cannot get involved with the police because she is a criminal informant for the FBI, the CIA and local police,” the affidavit states.

Genovese allowed investigators to do a walk-through of her mobile home, where they observed a handicapped chair in the shower. Genovese told them the chair was in the shower so she could perform sex acts. No other furniture was observed in the home, but police did find piles of clothing, as well as a motorized wheelchair parked outside the front door.

‘A liar and a thief’

On Feb. 27, 2018, investigators spoke with Wayne Heck, who confirmed his brother Ronald lived with a woman known to him as Layla Genovese.

“He described Genovese as a ‘horrible human being,’ adding she is a ‘liar’ and a ‘thief,’” the affidavit states.

Wayne Heck said he had transferred the mobile home from his brother to Genovese for less than $100, but that she had signed another name on the transfer documents, which he could not recall.

Heck also said Genovese had a disabled son living in the trailer, who could only crawl, and who she claimed was her brother.

The same day, investigators spoke by phone with Genovese’s ex-husband, Charles D’Onofrio, who lived in New Jersey. Charles D’Onofrio told investigators her maiden name was Kathleen Mikulak, and that they had been married in December 1993.

D’Onofrio also said that his ex-wife had a son named Shain, who had cerebral palsy and autism. He said another New Jersey man was the child’s biological father, and that his ex-wife’s mother, Margaret Rose Mikulak, had asked him to sign the child’s birth certificate so the boy could be returned to Linasheri from foster care, where he had been placed for the first four months of his life because he had not been cared for properly.

Charles D’Onofrio said he had not seen Shain in about nine years at that point, and that he had been unable to walk, was underweight and did not speak clearly. He had not spoken with his ex-wife in about four years.

Records search

Investigators also spoke with staff at District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo’s office in Plains Township regarding an eviction at Lot 213, whose owner was listed as Lina Mikulak. Staff said she appeared at a Sept. 5, 2017 hearing together with a male in a wheelchair, whom she identified as her son.

A records search with Wayne, N.J. police revealed prior police contacts with Lina D’Onofrio and her son, Shain, of Pocono Trailer Park in Wilkes-Barre (later East Mountain Ridge Mobile Home Park). A 2008 incident report referred to Shain as a 14-year-old with special needs and cerebral palsy.

“The report further states D’Onofrio tried to drop Shain off at relatives’ house in New Jersey, but the relatives refused to accept Shain” and she returned to Pennsylvania with the boy.

New Jersey birth records turned up a birth certificate for Shain Cori-Jesi D’Onofrio, born Oct. 21, 1993, with Linasheri A.J. Mikulak listed as the mother and Charles Paul D’Onofrio listed as the father.

Where was Shain?

Following issuance of a search warrant, investigators returned to the mobile home on Feb. 27, 2018. There, they found diapers of the same type, style and pattern seen on the body in the shed.

Interviewed again that day, Linasheri D’Onofrio told investigators she was separated from her husband. She said her grandmother, Mary Mikulak, had gone back to New Jersey and her son, Shain, was living with his grandmother, Rose Mikulak. Again, she refused to provide addresses or phone numbers, saying Mary and Shain were in the Witness Protection Program.

She continually denied the shed body was Shain. But her story changed, and she said Shain was living with his aunt.

Investigators advised that evidence existed to indicate the body was her son, which she denied. She refused to talk any more when questioned about the last time she had seen her son alive.

A buccal swab taken from D’Onofrio that day was used for a DNA test that later showed she was the mother of the human remains, which she was informed of in person.

“Even after being confronted with the DNA results proving Shain was her son, Linasheri D’Onofrio was still in denial and refused to acknowledge the remains” as his, the affidavit states.

Ex describes Shain’s condition

On Feb. 27, 2018 investigators spoke with Brian Stevens, a former boyfriend of D’Onofrio, who had met her in the spring of 2016 and had known her by the name Layla.

Stevens, who lived in the trailer for about a year, said D’Onofrio told him Shain’s name was David, he was her brother, and he had been struck by a car.

Stevens also told investigators that D’Onofrio abused Shain, the affidavit states, only changing his diaper once a day and slapping him if he spit out his food. Stevens said Shain could not move on his own, and showed signs of malnutrition, constantly asking to eat.

On one occasion, Stevens said he saw D’Onofrio stomp on Shain’s midsection as he moaned.

“Stevens told Linasheri that Shain needed to see a doctor,” but she replied that he was not to tell anyone about Shain’s condition.

On three separate occasions D’Onofrio made statements regarding her worry that someone would find out about Shain’s condition and they would get in trouble, Stevens told investigators.

“Linasheri suggested to Stevens that she felt like giving Shain ‘something to knock him out,’ so he could be “put in a blanket and taken to the woods and set on fire,’” she allegedly said to Stevens, adding that she said they could claim Shain had been kidnapped.

Stevens said the last time he had observed Shain, he had “lost a lot of weight and started to look like a skeleton.”

A neighbor, whose name is not indicated, told investigators he had assisted D’Onofrio in caring for Shain around 2008-2010, and had taken her to New Jersey where she tried to leave the boy with relatives.

The neighbor said Shain always seemed malnourished, and when he would feed the boy Domino’s pizza Shain would “stuff his face.” He also confirmed the boy was always wearing a diaper, which D’Onofrio didn’t change, claiming she was “overwhelmed” in caring for the boy.

Jailhouse confession alleged

D’Onofrio was later arrested and committed to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in connection with a forgery case, involving checks belonging to Ronald Heck, whose home she had been watching while he was in a nursing home.

Prosecutors accused D’Onofrio of writing the checks out to her elderly grandmother, Mary Mikulak, allegedly stealing an amount close to $3,000.

But Mikulak had been missing for years, and was presumed dead. Investigators at the time said they had not been able to track her down or find death records.

While D’Onofrio was in LCCF, a block worker said she wanted him to contact the police. According to the affidavit, D’Onofrio told the worker her ex-husband put her son in a shed and she burned it.

In March 2018 D’Onofrio sought a Protection From Abuse order in Luzerne County Court against her ex-husband and ex-boyfriend Stevens. She claimed they came to her house in the middle of the night in a black truck and assaulted her. She claims they took a garbage bag from the truck and take it to the back yard, where she then saw the shed on fire.

Investigators noted she was simultaneously claiming Shain was still alive yet filing a PFA claiming he was dead.

Autopsy, Children & Youth records

A limited autopsy was performed on the shed remains due to lack of tissue and organs, the affidavit notes. The autopsy report prepared by Dr. Samuel Land indicated the individual likely was deceased and decomposing prior to the fire. Land’s opinion was that low bone mineral density was consistent with starvation and malnutrition.

Investigators said they reviewed medical records and Children & Youth records which showed a pattern by D’Onofrio of failing to keep appointments for Shain, as well unsuccessfully applying for benefits for Shain — which in many cases were denied because she did not properly apply for them.

Among the examples they discovered was a 2016 incident in which Ronald Heck called 911 when Shain went into a seizure. D’Onofrio then called 911 to say she was at the grocery store and 911 did not need to respond; she was informed EMS was already on scene.

A medical records review conducted by Dr. Debra Esernio-Jenssen at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital concluded that “Shain would have suffered greatly from lack of nutrition, with increasing weakness and inability to perform tasks …”

“At some point near the end of his life, he would likely have been too weak to move or cry out,” the report states. “The weaker he became, the more difficult it would have been to feed himself.”

“It would have been clear to any reasonable caregiver that Shain was deteriorating, starving, unable to physically move or communicate,” Esernio-Jenssen wrote.

Investigators say D’Onofrio has never made any attempts to claim Shain’s body for proper burial.