WEST BATH — A woman who pleaded guilty to robbery for her involvement in the shooting death of a Richmond man in 2019 violated her probation in part by marrying the man who was found not guilty of homicide at trial.

Chanda Lilly Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

Chanda Lilly, 35, took a plea deal in which she pleaded guilty to robbery in 2023 and served four years in custody, and agreed to testify against Tyon Shuron who was accused of killing Andrew Sherman, 48, at his Richmond home in 2019.

Despite Lilly testifying at trial that Shuron shot Sherman in the arm, then she helped stand Sherman up against his bedroom wall so Shuron could shoot him in the head, a jury  found Shuron not guilty of Sherman’s death after extensive deliberation.

Lilly had served most of her sentence while she was awaiting trial. When she was released, the conditions of her probation prohibited her from engaging in any new criminal conduct, and from having contact, direct or indirect, with Shuron.

Prosecutor Suzanne Russell said at Lilly’s sentencing Thursday at West Bath District Court that not only did Lilly have contact with Shuron after his acquittal and in violation of her probation conditions, she married him. She also lied about who she was when Shuron and she were pulled over during a traffic stop and were both questioned by police.

Lilly’s 2023 sentence on the Class B robbery charge was 18 years in prison, with all but four years suspended, and four years of probation.

She could have been sentenced to the entire 14 years remaining on her sentence after she admitted to violating her probation. Instead, she was sentenced to two years in prison by Superior Court Justice Daniel Billings for violating her probation conditions, by having contact with Shuron and assaulting a jail guard.

Billings noted the irony of Lilly pleading guilty to robbery in the plea deal only to have Shuron be found not guilty and be allowed to go free on the murder charge.

Luke Rioux, Lilly’s defense attorney, said Lilly did her part in testifying against Shuron. Shuron was known to manipulate her, he said, arguing the 14 months behind bars she’s already served while waiting for her case to move forward was enough of a sentence.

“Chanda had a defensible case but she elected to cooperate with the state,” Rioux said. “She was promised during discussions that her testimony … would be used to gain a conviction, and Tyon would go away for decades. She sat in open court in front of Tyon and testified against him. Unfortunately, the state didn’t hold up their end. It wasn’t their choice, but something went wrong at trial. And Tyon was acquitted. And he had access to Ms. Lilly.”

Billings, who presided over Shuron’s homicide trial, said nothing went wrong at trial, and both the state and defense did their jobs well, but the jury ultimately didn’t agree that Shuron had been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ruth Sherman, Sherman’s mother, testified the family feels unsafe and like they need to constantly look over their shoulder.

“I find the judicial system is certainly broken,” she said, urging the court to hold Lilly to her probation conditions. “Nothing will bring Andrew back but he certainly deserves to have some value to his life.”

Shuron and Lilly were each arrested in early 2020 and indicted in connection with the shooting death of Andrew Sherman. Lilly was initially charged with felony murder, but struck a deal with state prosecutors in March 2023 to plead guilty to robbery. Shuron was found not guilty of murder and felony murder charges following a jury trial in November 2023. The jury found him guilty on one count of witness tampering for trying to get then-girlfriend Lilly to change her account of the night Sherman died.

Court files in Lilly’s probation violation case include a marriage license application that officials say Shuron and Lilly obtained together in Belfast in December 2023, a license issued by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services indicating they were married Dec. 31, 2023, in Searsmont and photographs of them smiling together and opening wedding gifts at what court documents indicate was their wedding.

A police affidavit stated the pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church said Lilly and Shuron came to the church a couple of weeks before their wedding and said they wanted to have it there. The ceremony took place at the church, which posted photographs on its public Facebook page. The pastor told police Lilly did not mention she was on probation or prohibited from having contact with Shuron.

State probation officials also allege Lilly and Shuron were together in February 2024, when a car driven by Shuron was pulled over in Liberty. Police said Shuron and Lilly used her sister’s name when identifying her during the traffic stop.

Officers who are familiar with Chanda Lilly reviewed the report and video of the traffic stop and said in court documents that she, not her sister, was with Shuron inside the vehicle, again in violation of her probation.

Prosecutors at Shuron’s trial said he had traveled with Lilly in September 2019 to Sherman’s home in Richmond for a fatal confrontation over explicit photographs that Sherman had taken of Lilly. Sherman paid her for the images after they met through an online platform that connects models and photographers.

While Lilly was consistent in her testimony during trial that Shuron shot Sherman, had taken pains to avoid leaving evidence at Sherman’s home and had burned other evidence days later in Appleton, she also testified she has schizoaffective disorder bipolar type and has problems with short- and long-term memory.