BELFAST, Maine — The mother charged with murder in the death of her 10-year-old daughter is scheduled to appear in court this week.
In February, the defense lawyers for Sharon Carrillo, 33, of Stockton Springs filed a motion to suppress statements she made regarding the death of her daughter, Marissa Kennedy.
Sharon's lawyers say that Julio Carrillo, her husband at the time of the alleged murder, severely tortured his wife and stepdaughter before the young girl died, influencing Sharon's reasoning and judgement when she was questioned by law enforcement.
On Thursday, May 2 and Friday, May 3, the first hearing for motion to suppress by Carrillo's defense lawyers will be held at Belfast Superior Court.
In their filing, Sharon's defense lawyers say she was the victim of severe domestic torture by Julio, including extreme physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. They say the torture that Sharon and Marissa were subjected to was designed to break down their conceptions of reality to submit to a new reality imposed by Julio.
Sharon's lawyers also say that on Feb. 25 last year, the day Marissa's body was discovered at a condominium where the family was staying, Julio told Sharon to tell detectives that they shared a "50/50 responsibility" for Marissa's death.
Defense lawyers also say that an independent psychological evaluation, conducted by Dr. Sarah Miller of the Maine State Forensic Service, showed that Sharon "has been shown to be related to an increased risk of falsely confessing".
The motion to suppress filing says that Sharon's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, secured under the federal and state constitutions, were violated. Her lawyers list 13 instances of statements she made during the case investigation that they want to be suppressed, saying they were "illegally obtained".
This is the first hearing regarding a motion to suppress statements made by Sharon in this case.
The full motion to suppress reads as follows:
This story will be updated.
