ANNVILLE, Pa. — Editor's Note: The above video is from Oct. 1
A Lebanon County woman charged in the death of 12-year-old Max Schollenberger earlier this year has waived her preliminary hearing, court records show.
Kimberly Maurer, 35, and her fiance, Scott Schollenberger, are charged with homicide last month after Max Schollenberger's body was found in a second-floor bedroom of their Annville home on May 26.
A doctor determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and starvation, authorities say.
Scott Schollenberger is Max's father.
Court documents state that the bed, child's clothing and child's body were covered in fecal matter, and the odor emanating from the bedroom was described as "overpowering."
Police said that the victim's room contained no forms of electrical or artificial lighting, and that windows had shades duct taped to the window frames themselves.
Authorities say that permanently affixed screws held windows closed, and the room was barren outside of the bed the child's body was found on.
According to the court documents, the only liquid found inside the child's room was a plastic cup near the bed frame that contained "a single inch of water."
Police say during an examination of the outside of the child's door, it was found that three metal hooks were installed to be able to lock the victim in the room.
After an investigation into the death, police found that the victim had been kept in his bedroom and hidden from the public and from some immediate family members for several years.
Authorities say Max had never been enrolled in school and had not visited the doctors in years.
Other children who lived in the house were attending school and receiving medical care.
The preliminary hearing is a step in the legal process that requires the prosecution to show there is enough evidence for the case to move to court for trial or a plea agreement, authorities say. A defendant has the right to waive this step of the process.
The next step of the criminal process will be a formal arraignment in court, then a trial or plea agreement.
No date has been set yet for Maurer's formal arraignment.
Scott Schollenberger waived his preliminary hearing last week.