There is little evidence that the grandmother of a slain Bangor boy was involved in his death, the woman’s lawyer said Tuesday.
Mistie Latourette, 58, is charged with depraved indifference murder in the Feb. 18, 2024, death of 10-year-old Braxtyn Smith. His father, Joshua Smith, 35, is also charged with murder.
Braxtyn’s mother, Jem Bean, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Feb. 13 in her son’s death. Bean will likely be called to testify at the trial, her attorneys said.
The child’s cause of death was a blow to the head, of which there is no evidence that Latourette was involved, her attorney, Chris MacLean, said Tuesday.
“This is a case where we think the evidence is really very, very thin that she was involved in any way in the murder of the child,” MacLean said. “We understand the really emotional and difficult facts of the case, but when you look at the evidence, there’s just very little evidence linking [Latourette] in any way at all to the death of the child. We’re looking forward to having our day in court and showing what the evidence is and getting a verdict from the jury.”
Latourette was in Penobscot County Superior Court on Tuesday for a bail hearing. Her $300,000 bail was reduced to $100,000.
The reduction was “purely academic” because Latourette has no way to raise that much money, MacLean said. He had requested the hearing a while ago with the hope Latourette could raise money, but she cannot afford that bail amount, he said.
She’s been in the Penobscot County Jail since Feb. 28, 2024. The trial for Latourette and Smith will start June 17.
Smith, Bean and Latourette allegedly inflicted horrific abuse on Braxtyn, a 15-page document released in March 2024 said. 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. She will be sentenced after the jury trial.
