BELFAST — The trial of a Stockton Springs woman charged with murder in the death of her 3-year-old son was put on hold Tuesday because the lead prosecutor contracted COVID-19.

Jessica Trefethen, who also goes by Jessica Williams and Jessica Johnson, is being tried in the Waldo County Superior Court on a charge of depraved indifference murder in the June 20, 2021, death of her son Maddox Williams. Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea is expected to be in the courtroom when the trial resumes on Monday.

The trial started Oct. 5 with the state calling medical professionals, investigators and some of Trefethen’s family to testify.

Jurors heard a firsthand account of Trefethen’s defense on Friday when prosecutors played a recording of her first interview with police. The family had recently adopted a puppy, which frequently jumped on the children, she said, echoing events her defense attorneys laid out in their opening statements. The kids were playing outside when her daughter told her that the dog had dragged Maddox along the ground.

Maddox died on June 20, 2021, at Waldo County General Hospital after staff spent more than an hour performing several life-saving measures. A medical examiner has said Maddox’s injuries – extensive bruising, internal bleeding, missing teeth and a broken spine – were more indicative of “inflicted injuries.”

Trefethen was arrested three days later.

Maddox Williams was one of more than two dozen children whose deaths in 2021 were flagged by the Department of Health and Human Services.

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