HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that the Pennsylvania Superior Court has denied a convicted murderer’s request for relief regarding the brutal 2020 killing of a 12-year-old boy.
The Office of Attorney General represented the Commonwealth in arguing that Kimberly Maurer had adequate representation during her 2022 trial, leading to an appropriate verdict based on overwhelming evidence of Maurer’s guilt.
Maurer and her husband resented 12-year-old Maxwell Schollenberger, so they locked the boy away from the world, abused and starved him.
Following her conviction at trial, Maurer was sentenced to life in prison, plus 10 to 20 years.
The Superior Court recently issued an opinion denying Maurer’s request for relief, and concluded that the evidence presented at trial supported the conviction.
“We are pleased that the Superior Court agreed with us that the facts from trial speak for themselves. This was nothing more than a convicted child killer’s latest attempt to avoid accountability,” Attorney General Sunday said. “These are some of the most heinous acts imaginable, and we are devoted to ensure justice remains with little Maxwell’s loved ones.”
In May 2020, the child was found dead in his Annville Township home. Investigators found the child had been living in a room, locked from the outside, with its window shuttered to prevent any light from entering. The child weighed only 47 pounds, was severely malnourished, and had head trauma.
At autopsy, a forensic pathologist ruled the child’s death a homicide caused by blunt force head trauma, which complicated his malnourishment and starvation.
Scott Schollenberger, the child’s father and Maurer’s husband, is also serving a life sentence.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Schmidt represented the Office of Attorney General in the recent post-conviction motion.
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