WISCASSET — A judge has declared a mistrial in the state's murder case against an Edgecomb man who allegedly killed his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter on Christmas morning in 2022.
Tyler Witham-Jordan, 30, has been charged with one count of depraved indifference murder in connection with the death of Makinzlee Handrahan on Christmas morning 2022. He pleaded not guilty in January and his defense attorneys blamed the girl's mother, Faith Lewis, for the toddler's death. Prosecutors insisted that Lewis was a victim and not a suspect.
Lewis, 32, of Edgecomb testified in Lincoln County Superior Court Wednesday morning, recalling the days leading up to her daughter's death. But when prosecutors tried to show Lewis photos of Makinzlee's body, badly injured from that night, Lewis began sobbing and demanded they remove the photos.
“What did he do to my baby?” she screamed.
The court then took a long break and the defense asked the judge to declare the trial invalid because showing Lewis these images prejudiced her client.
“Everyone in this trial knows that these images are explosive,” said Daniel Dubé, one of Witham Jordan’s lawyers. “The state intentionally used a stick of dynamite at an unexpected time and there was an explosive reaction from Faith Lewis. This was by no means unforeseeable and was predicted.”
Billings said he had never seen a witness have such an extreme, emotional reaction.
“What happened in this courtroom could have been avoided,” said Chief Justice Daniel Billings. “And even if it were a coincidence, it is so extreme that I cannot be sure that the outcome of this process would be fair and just.”
Faith had told the jury she was concerned about how long her three-year-old daughter slept on Christmas Eve 2022. Makinzlee wasn't feeling well and slept through dinner, Lewis said, which was unusual because she never goes downstairs for a nap.
When Lewis went to bed that night after preparing the children's Christmas stockings, she texted her boyfriend and asked him to check on the girl.
“I trusted him back then,” she said.
The next morning, Lewis said she went to her daughter's room to tell her Santa had arrived, only to find her unresponsive in her bed. She picked her up and asked Witham-Jordan to begin CPR when she called 911.
MAKINZLEE'S DEATH
The state had accused Witham-Jordan of beating Makinzlee to death while he was undergoing opioid withdrawal sometime between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.
But neither side has announced plans to present eyewitnesses to the alleged beating.
Makinzlee shared a room and a bunk bed with Witham-Jordan's 9-year-old daughter. On Wednesday, prosecutors showed photos of the bed that showed a board had fallen from the top bunk onto Makinzlee's mattress.
Prosecutors did not rely on statements made by Witham-Jordan's daughter that night, which Witham-Jordan's lawyers would have used to bolster their client's claims of innocence.
Earlier this week, the jury heard from technicians who helped search the Edgecomb apartment for evidence that Christmas Day. From a trash can in the bathroom they retrieved a diaper with blood on it and a broken hairbrush with a large pile of hair hanging from it.
Lewis testified Wednesday that the hairbrush did not belong to Makinzlee.
They also found a pair of damp jeans with syringes and an empty pill bottle in the pockets, as well as a damp purple T-shirt with blood stains. And in a yellow box labeled with Witham-Jordan's name, police found packages of Suboxone.
They found a handkerchief with blood in Makinzlee's bedroom, as well as blood on her sheets and pillows. Next to Makinzlee's pillow was a camouflage hat and sunglasses, which an evidence technician said were “out of place” compared to Makinzlee's pink Hello Kitty comforter.
Witham-Jordan's lawyers focused on evidence they said police failed to collect – most notably, no one wiped down the area around the window, which had been open all night before Makinzlee was found. The fan was also on, police discovered, but no one swabbed the button for fingerprints or DNA evidence.
A TENSE CONVERSATION
A Lincoln County Sheriff's Office patrolman testified Monday that he observed a tense conversation between Witham-Jordan and his daughter hours after Makinzlee was found dead.
Sergeant. Kevin Dennison was brought to the Edgecomb apartment hours after paramedics took Makinzlee's body to a hospital in Damariscotta. Lewis went to follow the ambulance, leaving Witham-Jordan with Lewis' two sons and daughter.
Dennison said he asked Witham-Jordan several times what happened. Witham-Jordan was emotional, Dennison said, as he talked about seeing Makinzlee covered in bruises and cold to the touch.
At first, Dennison said Witham-Jordan was very “personal” with his daughter and hugged her “pretty tightly.” But as Dennison stood in another room waiting for a second officer to arrive, he said he heard Witham-Jordan verbally disciplining the girl.
“He just seemed really irritated … because his attitude went from hugging her to being really upset and irritated with her,” Dennison said.
But that part of Dennison's testimony was delivered when the jury was not present – Witham-Jordan's lawyers objected to the officer using anything that could be interpreted as general evidence about his character and not directly related to the crime .
This story will be updated.
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