‘Pure evil personified’ found guilty in less than an hour

Annville, Pennsylvania: A jury in Lebanon County took less than an hour to find 37-year-old Kimberly Marie Maurer guilty on seven felony charges related to the death of 12-year-old Maxwell Schollenberger in May 2020.

Maurer is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1. Convictions on the charges of first-degree homicide and conspiracy alone are subject to mandatory life sentenced under Pennsylvania state law.

Following the verdict, Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Gaff said that evidence that had been presented to the jury during the trial showed "what pure evil personified looks like."

"It shows how a child could be tortured, starved and punished in every way for existing," she continued. "And those twelve people stood up, looked at (Maurer) in the face today and did right by that child."

Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Edward McCann told the Lebanon Daily that this case was "the worst child abuse case" he's been involved with in his 32 years as a prosecutor.

"Her kid was essentially tortured, jailed (and) basically his existence was erased while he was still alive," McCann said. "I've never seen any crime scene that looked like this crime scene."

Max had been in the custody of his father, 43-year-old Scott Scholleberger Jr. and his fiancée, Maurer since the age of two. When he was found deceased on May 26, 2020, he weighted only 47.5 pounds, was only 50 inches tall, and was discovered naked in a bed where both he and the bed were "wholly covered in fecal matter."

Ultimately, Max's manner of death was determined to be homicide caused by blunt force trauma complicated by starvation and malnourishment.

In February, Schollenberger plead guilty to the charges against him and was quickly sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole by Judge Bradford Charles.