Sunshine Stewart. (Photo courtesy of Annie Haven)
The case of a 17-year-old accused of killing a woman from Tenants Harbor is no longer public, according to the state courts.
The teenager from Frankfort was charged with murder in the death of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart, who was found dead after going missing during a paddleboarding trip on Crawford Pond in Union. The Press Herald is not naming the teen because of his age, pending the court’s ruling on whether he will be charged as an adult.
The teen’s case was made confidential on Aug. 14, according to a spokesperson for the Maine Judicial Branch.
Most Maine juvenile records are confidential, but petitions for juveniles older than 13 who have been charged with murder can be inspected in-person, though they can’t be shared or distributed beyond the courthouse, according to Maine law.
The Frankfort teen’s petition in Knox County Superior Court, showing he was charged with “intentional or knowing or depraved indifference murder,” was previously publicized on the state’s high-profile cases webpage. It was taken down last month after a Press Herald reporter inquired about why it was shared online.
As of last week, the teen’s entire case, including the petition, is no longer public, according to the Maine Judicial Branch spokesperson. That could change if his case is moved to adult court. Prosecutors have filed a motion to charge him as an adult and a status conference had been scheduled to be held Friday. Judge Eric Walker had previously ordered the police affidavits in the teen’s case to be sealed until after the status conference.
The teen’s attorney, Jeremy Pratt, and a spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General both declined to comment on the case when reached Wednesday.
The teen is being held at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland. He will turn 18 in September, according to court records. If a judge agrees that the attorney general can prosecute him as an adult and orders him to be detained, Maine law states he will need to be moved to an adult jail.
The 17-year-old was arrested last month, about two weeks after Stewart was found dead. Stewart had planned to spend the summer at Mic Mac Cove Campground, police have said. Friends remembered her as a strong, kind woman who loved the outdoors.
