The 17-year-old boy arrested in connection with the death of a paddleboarder in Union has been charged with one count of murder and ordered by a judge to remain in custody.
Maine State Police took the teen into custody Wednesday night in Union. The Office of the Maine Attorney General confirmed Friday that he has been charged with murder in the death of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart.
The teen, who is from Frankfort, entered a denial to the charge Friday morning during a court hearing in Knox County, according to the Midcoast Villager. He appeared via Zoom link from Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, where he has been held since his arrest.
Judge Eric Walker ordered the teen to remain in custody and sealed the police affidavits filed with the court until a status conference on Aug. 22. The teen did not speak during the hearing, other than to acknowledge that he understood the charge and that he had talked to a court-appointed attorney, the Midcoast Villager reported. For now, the Press Herald is not identifying the teen because of his age, pending the court’s ruling on whether he is charged as an adult.
A juvenile petition filed in District Court in Rockland says that the teen “did intentionally or knowingly cause the death” of Stewart or “did engage in conduct that manifested a depraved indifference to the value of human life and which in fact caused the death of Sunshine Stewart.” The petition did not reveal a motive.
Stewart was reported missing after she did not return from paddleboarding on Crawford Pond in Knox County on July 2. Her body and paddleboard were found a few hours after a search was launched from Mic Mac Cove Family Campground on the north side of the pond.
Stewart lived in Tenants Harbor, about 21 miles from the pond, and planned to spend the summer at the campground. She had arrived a few days before her death, police said.
Police have said little about Stewart’s killing and did not release her cause of death — strangulation and blunt force trauma — until after announcing that the teen had been taken into custody.
Maine has strict privacy rules that govern juvenile criminal proceedings in Maine, meaning most court records remain sealed until and unless the state moves to prosecute a juvenile as an adult. The state has filed a motion to move the proceedings against the teen to adult court.
Police say the investigation is still active. They have asked for information from anyone who may have seen Stewart paddleboarding between 6-9 p.m. on July 2 near 100 Acre Island on Crawford Pond or who has other information about the case. There is no public boat launch on Crawford Pond, which covers nearly 600 acres.
Friends called Stewart a tough and capable person who loved the outdoors and the ocean. They described her as a talented craftsperson who fixed up old Maine homes, including her own.
Stewart went to Union Elementary School and later attended Bradford College in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Later in life, she became a sailor in St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Bruce Twyon, who met Stewart in the Virgin Islands, said she was a kindhearted person who was “a little tough on the outside,” but a friend for life.
“Family and friends knew justice for Sunny was on the horizon, and hopefully that will come to bear,” he said Thursday. “We are all very appreciative of the effort of Maine law enforcement.”
