WISCASSET, Maine — 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 on a hospital bed.
"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 corpse of the child.
The request for mistrial was granted.
Superior Justice Daniel Billings, who was presiding over the trial, said he had never seen a witness react in the extreme way Lewis reacted and said he didn't believe anything could have been done to make this a fair trial.
Handrahan died by non-accidental blunt force trauma, according to the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. She had bruising to her face, right ear, head, back and stomach. The Chief Medical Examiner's Office also found Witham-Jordan's DNA under the toddler's fingertips and on a broken hairbrush that had her hair in it, according to court documents.
An affidavit in the case noted that there was a Maine Department of Health and Human Services investigation into the child's wellbeing two months before the child died. Handrahan's day care contacted DHHS with concerns over a scratch and bruises she had on her body. Witham-Jordan was a suspect in that DHHS child abuse investigation.
Witham-Jordan pleaded not guilty to charges relating to Handrahan's death back in January.
This story is developing and will be updated.
