A jury trial was delayed by more than two months for two people accused of abusing a 10-year-old Bangor boy until he died.
Braxtyn Smith died on Feb. 18, 2024, after enduring months of abuse. His father, Joshua Smith, 35, and paternal grandmother, Mistie Latourette, 58, are charged with depraved indifference murder.
The pair were scheduled for a jury trial on March 23 but it was delayed until June 17 because of scheduling conflicts with the court and lawyers. The decision was made on Friday at Penobscot County Superior Court.
The decision came the same day as Braxtyn’s mother, Jem Bean, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in her son’s death. Bean will likely be called to testify at the trial, her attorneys said.
Attorneys for Smith and Latourette are waiting on expert reports that they need time to review before the trial, they said Friday.
The trial will likely take about two weeks, which would have overlapped with the court’s administrative week, Judge Ann Murray said. Courthouses across Maine are closed until noon the week of March 30 for administrative work.
Scheduling conflicts and other trials in April and May meant mid-June was the earliest the Smith and Latourette trial could start.
Jury selection is scheduled for June 15 and 16, with the trial starting June 17.
A 15-page document released in March 2024 outlined the horrific abuse Smith, Bean and Latourette allegedly inflicted on Braxtyn. The adults described to police how the boy was zip tied to chairs and to his parents, forced to dig through the trash for food, and called insulting names, according to the affidavit for probable cause compiled by the Bangor Police Department.
Bean’s manslaughter guilty plea means she acted recklessly or with criminal negligence, instead of with intentional conduct or depraved indifference as a murder charge alleges.
