Portland, Maine — A judge has sentenced an 18-year-old man to murder in the killing of A paddleboarder In Maine she is eligible to stand trial.
The death last year of Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart, 48, of St. George, shocked the community surrounding Crawford Pond in rural Union, Maine. Authorities charged Devin Young of Frankfort, Maine, with murder in Stewart’s death in July, about two weeks after Stewart’s body was discovered.
The court system has so far treated Young as a juvenile. State prosecutors want to charge Young, who was 17 at the time of Stewart’s death and is now 18, as a felon. adult. First, he needed to be deemed competent to stand trial, which a judge ruled this week that he was.
“The court finds that the defendant is competent to proceed based on the court’s finding that the juvenile has a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings and sufficient ability to consult with legal counsel with a reasonable degree of rational understanding,” Maine District Court Judge Eric J. Walker wrote on Wednesday.
Young is scheduled to return to court on May 7. The medical examiner determined Stewart’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma, police said.
Young’s attorney, Jeremy Pratt, declined to comment Thursday. Prosecutors in the case also declined to comment Thursday.
Authorities have not publicly announced a possible motive in this case. Court documents about the case, which were briefly posted before being removed from the state courts’ website, contain few details other than noting that Young “knowingly or intentionally caused the death of another human being, Sunshine Stewart.”
Audio recordings released by the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office and obtained by news outlets earlier this year provided details about Young’s history of violent behavior and mental health challenges before Stewart’s death. Portland Press Herald I mentioned That Young was waiting for behavioral health services from the state.
Stewart disappeared at Crawford Pond, where she was kayaking, on July 2 and her body was found the next day. The pond is a popular attraction in the summer for swimming, boating and fishing. Stewart lived about 21 miles (34 kilometers) from the pond in the Tenants Harbor neighborhood of St. George.
Stewart’s friends and family celebrate Her life with the Naval Service last August. The memorial included a procession of boats, some decorated with flowers, into Tennant Harbour.
On the boats were pictures of a smiling Stewart and a large banner that said “Shine.” Over the years, Stewart worked as a fisherman, boat captain, biologist, carpenter and bartender, friends said.