A Carrabassett Valley man who claims he shot his girlfriend by accident was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury Thursday on a charge of intentional or knowing murder.

Austin J. Doucette, 24, is accused of shooting Makayla Rose DeSantis, 23, of Carrabassett Valley twice on March 8 at his condominium at 1215 Left Bank in Carrabassett Valley. She died at a Portland hospital while undergoing surgery for bullet wounds to her chest.

Doucette is being held without bail at the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington until a hearing is set.

DeSantis, originally from Colchester, Connecticut, worked at 45 North, a restaurant at the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel in Carrabassett Valley. Doucette also worked for Sugarloaf in a different capacity.

Following the shooting, Doucette drove DeSantis toward a Farmington hospital to get treatment but after he called 911, ambulance personnel intercepted his vehicle and got DeSantis into the ambulance. She was taken to MaineHealth Franklin Hospital in Farmington and then flown by medical helicopter to MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she died undergoing surgery.

DeSantis’ co-workers told police Doucette had for weeks “belittled” and demeaned her in text messages and threatened to hurt her, according to witnesses in a police affidavit.

The two had been dating since May 13, 2018, and were in a long-distance relationship until DeSantis moved to Maine in 2024. They initially lived with Doucette’s father for a short time and then at the Herbert Hotel in Kingfield, which Sugarloaf purchased for workforce housing, before moving to the Left Bank condominium, DeSantis’ parents told police.

Police searched the condominium for evidence March 8 and 9. Among the items seized were 26 guns and ammunition, clothing and other items, including DNA evidence, according to a police affidavit.