Edgecomb Child Christmas Death Ruled A Homicide

[Sugar Cookie]

State Police have ruled a homicide as the cause of death for the Edgecomb 3-year-old who was found not breathing on Christmas morning.

State Police identified the child as Makinzlee Handrahan Wednesday.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department responded to a residence on Route 1 in Edgecomb just after 7:30 Christmas morning.

Handrahan was pronounced dead at a Damariscotta hospital.

Edgecomb child Christmas death ruled a homicide

State Police have ruled a homicide as the cause of death for the Edgecomb 3-year-old who was found not breathing on Christmas morning.

www.wabi.tv

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Two days after the Christmas morning death of her 3-year-old girl, an Edgecomb mother requested a protection from abuse order against a man she described as “verbally, mentally and physically abusive.”

The application for the protective order filed Tuesday in Wiscasset District Court provides some of the few details available about the family of 3-year-old Makinzlee Handrahan, whose Christmas Day death has been ruled a homicide.

Makinzlee’s death is Maine’s 32nd homicide of the year and the third this year of a child.

Asked whether the man named in the protective order is a suspect, Moss said police do not release information about potential suspects. The Bangor Daily News is not naming the man because he has not been charged in connection with the toddler’s death. It is not naming the mother because she is allegedly the victim of abuse.

The mother requested the protection from abuse order on Tuesday, and a judge granted a temporary order the same day. She asked for protection for herself, two older children, ages 7 and 9, and a dog. The request doesn’t mention Makinzlee.


“I am scared for my life and my children,” she wrote.

She described the man in court paperwork as a dating partner who formerly or presently lived in the same household. She requested that he give back his key to her apartment.

Mother of slain Edgecomb toddler sought protection order 2 days later

Two days after the Christmas morning death of her 3-year-old girl, an Edgecomb mother requested a protection from abuse order.

wgme.com

 

[AussieKat]

Yeah, merry Christmas baby. You didn't have a chance. From your naming to your mother protecting herself (but not you) 2 days after you died, you didn't have a hope. RIP little angel.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A man has been charged with murder in connection with the Christmas Day death of a 3-year-old girl, Maine State Police said.

Tyler Witham-Jordan, 29, of Edgecomb, was arrested Friday in the death of Makinzlee Handrahan, police said in a news release.

Police said they received a 911 call the morning of Dec. 25, 2022, in Edgecomb, saying that the child was not breathing. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital.


The medical examiner's office in Augusta ruled the death a homicide, but police said Friday that the cause of death is being withheld at this time.

Witham-Jordan was the boyfriend of Makinzlee's mother at the time, police said.

MSN

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A man charged with murder in connection with the death of a toddler is blaming the child’s mother, in a move that prosecutors have called character assassination.

Tyler Witham-Jordan, 30, was in Lincoln County Superior Court on Tuesday for a hearing regarding several requests for evidence at his trial in December.

Witham-Jordan is facing one count of depraved indifference murder in connection with the death of 3-year-old Makinzlee Handrahan in December 2022. He has pleaded not guilty.

His lawyers asked a judge to limit testimony from certain witnesses, and to throw out allegations of previous wrongdoing against Witham-Jordan.

Superior Justice Daniel Billings did not grant much of what the defense asked for, but he did use their requests to urge prosecutors to use caution when introducing certain information to the jury.

Billings denied a request that he review and consider sharing the mental health records for Faith Lewis, Makinzlee’s mother.

Witham-Jordan’s lawyers said they believe Lewis was responsible for Makinzlee’s death.

Witham-Jordan was living with Lewis and four children in their Edgecomb home when the couple called 911 and reported that Makinzlee was unresponsive early on Christmas morning in 2022. When first responders arrived, they found the child stiff, cold to the touch and so bruised that one EMT said she looked like a “Dalmatian,” a police affidavit states.

Attorney James Howaniec said Lewis’ statements to police were inconsistent, and that investigators were skeptical of her early in the investigation. He noted that a couple months before the murder, her home had been investigated by the state Department of Health and Human Services following allegations of child abuse.

The state is arguing that Witham-Jordan, while experiencing opioid withdrawal and resentment against Lewis’ children, beat Makinzlee to death at some point between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

Police found Witham-Jordan’s DNA on a broken hairbrush, in which a large clump of Makinzlee’s hair was stuck in the bristles. They also found his DNA inside the upper waistband of her diaper and under her fingernails, suggesting she had struggled against him.

Lewis’ DNA was excluded from these items, but a DNA expert for the defense pointed out that doesn’t mean she never used the brush.

Read entire article here

Man charged with Edgecomb girl’s murder blames her mother

Tyler Witham-Jordan was charged last fall with one count of murder in connection with the death of Makinzlee Handrahan.

www.pressherald.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Makinzlee

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A horrifying murder case involving a three-year-old girl is in court on the Midcoast.

Tyler Witham-Jordan is accused of killing his girlfriend's daughter.

The toddler's body was found on Christmas Day nearly two years ago.

“Her injuries were screaming that she was murdered,” State Prosecutor Lia Bogue said.

A mostly male jury listened intently as Bogue laid out the state’s case and timeline of key events leading up to the alleged murder of Makinzlee Handrahan.

“All 27 pounds of her was killed, quietly and discreetly,” Bogue said. “No one heard her die.”

The state claims Witham-Jordan had been agitated that the child had been sick around the holiday and was looking to get high.

“He wanted to get together with his connection on Christmas Eve because he needed more drugs,” Bogue said.

Both sides focused on early morning texts between Witham-Jordan and Faith Lewis, his girlfriend and Handrahan’s mother, about checking on her, because she had been in bed for hours.

“The state has zero evidence that Tyler Witham-Jordan committed this crime,” Defense Attorney Jim Howaniec said.

Attorneys gave theories about DNA evidence at the scene, including on a comb with a “huge” clump of the child's hair found in the bathroom. The defense accused Lewis of committing the murder instead.

“We're going to ask you to keep an open mind,” Howaniec said.

The two sides met with each other right before court.

Prosecutors would not say if they offered Witham-Jordan one last deal before the trial started.

The jury saw images of Handrahan's bruised body and injuries

'No one heard her die:' Trial begins for man accused of murdering toddler in Edgecomb

A horrifying murder case involving a three-year-old girl is in court on the Midcoast.

fox23maine.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

The judge overseeing the trial of the Edgecomb man accused of killing a three-year-old child on Christmas Day in 2022 granted a mistrial Wednesday in a surprising turn of events.

Tyler Witham-Jordan, 30, was on trial for a charge of depraved indifference murder in the homicide of three-year-old Makinzlee Handrahan.

The girl's mother, 32-year-old Faith Lewis, took the stand Wednesday in Lincoln County Superior Court. While testifying, prosecutors showed Lewis images taken by the medical examiner of her daughter's bruised and badly beaten body.

"I can't, I can't! Please turn it off, I need to leave," Lewis screamed. "I need my mom. I need Henry. What did he do to my baby?"

Her screams were followed by tears as she broke down and left the witness stand. The judge dismissed early for lunch.

The defense then moved for a mistrial on the grounds of Lewis' response during her testimony and the introduction or republishing information admitted that displayed the child's body.

"Everybody in this trial knows that those pictures are dynamite," Witham-Jordan's defense counsel Dan Dube' said. "You have to show it. It's how you manage it. And when you have experienced counsel, they should have known better."

Dube said Lewis' response paved a clear pathway for a "manifest necessity" mistrial, which is when there is an occurrence in court that makes it impossible for the jury to conduct a fair trial or reach a just result.

The defense also argued for mistrial with prejudice, explaining they believes the state tried to purposely evoke an emotional reaction from the witness for the jury to see, creating a prejudice or bias among the jury against the defendant.

Superior Justice Daniel Billings, who was presiding over the trial, granted the request for mistrial on the grounds of manifest necessity, but the judge denied the request for mistrial with prejudice. Mistrial with prejudice would have prevented Witham-Jordan from being able to be put on trial again for the crimes he has been charged with.

MSN

 

[BuffettGirl]

Thankful that I'm not a juror that has to untangle this mess to get that bitty some justice!

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A 31-year-old man in Maine is facing decades in prison for killing his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter who was found dead in her bed on Christmas Day. Authorities said he beat the toddler to death while he was "agitated" from opioid withdrawals and because the victim had been sick in the days leading up to the holiday.

A jury in Lincoln County on Tuesday found Tyler Witham-Jordan guilty on one count of depraved indifference murder in the 2022 slaying of Makinzlee Handrahan.

The verdict came down after a nine-day trial in Sagadahoc County Superior Court. It was Witham-Jordan's second trial after the first ended in a mistrial.

At 7:37 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2022, emergency medical personnel responded to a 911 call concerning a home off Route 1 in Edgecomb regarding a 3-year-old girl found unresponsive in her bed, according to a report from The Lincoln County News.

The victim's mother called 911 and said to the dispatcher, "Oh my God, I think my daughter's dead," Portland-based CBS affiliate WGME reported. Witham-Jordan can also be heard on the call saying, "I'm f—ed" and "I'm finished."

Upon arriving, first responders pronounced Makinzlee dead at the scene and transported her body to MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital's Miles Campus for an autopsy.

During the trial, prosecutors asserted Witham-Jordan was addicted to opioids and experiencing withdrawals and was "agitated" with all of his girlfriend's children that Christmas morning, the Portland Press Herald reported. He was particularly frustrated with Makinzlee because she had been sick the week before the holiday.

Witham-Jordan also reportedly believed the drugs he purchased the morning of Christmas Eve were fake.

The state asserted that Witham-Jordan lost his temper and beat the child to death with a hairbrush on Christmas Eve.

The brush, which was broken and had a "huge" clump of Makinzlee's hair stuck to it, was presented as evidence during the trial. Prosecutors also said that the defendant's DNA was found underneath Makinzlee's fingernails and on the waistband of her bloody diaper, Portland CW affiliate WMTW reported.

Read more

Man 'agitated' over 3-year-old being sick before Christmas killed child with hairbrush

Tyler Witham-Jordan was convicted of killing his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter, beating the toddler to death because he was feeling "agitated."

lawandcrime.com