ROCKLAND, Maine — A state judge has ruled that 18-year-old Deven Young is competent to stand trial for the killing of Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart last year in Union.
Judge Eric Walker ruled in his April 29 decision that “the Defendant is competent to proceed based on the court’s finding that the juvenile has a rational as well as a factual understanding of the proceedings and a sufficient present ability to consult with legal counsel with a reasonable degree of rational understanding.”
The judge impounded the competency evaluation done of Young and more detailed reasons on why he was found competent.
Walker ordered a scheduling conference be held on May 7 in the state court in Knox County.
The judge has had the competency issue under advisement since a closed-door hearing in Rockland on Jan. 30.
The Maine attorney general’s office is seeking to have the case transferred to adult court, as Young, who lived in Frankfort, turned 18 shortly after Stewart’s death. This issue is important because if Young is tried as an adult and convicted, he would face a minimum of 25 years and up to life in prison. If tried as a juvenile, he could be sentenced to juvenile detention until he turns 21 years old, meaning a maximum of three years.
The process now will be the scheduling of a hearing on whether to transfer to adult court. If a judge approves that transfer, the case would be presented to a grand jury in Knox County. If the grand jury finds reasonable cause that he committed the crime it would issue an indictment, then the case would be scheduled for a trial.
A trial probably would not be held for a year or more.
Young has been charged with murder in the July 3, 2025, death of Stewart on Crawford Pond in Union. Stewart and Young were both staying at the same campground on the pond. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta confirmed the cause of death for the 47-year-old Stewart was strangulation and blunt force trauma.
Young’s name was first released by the court at the request of the Midcoast Villager when the teen made his initial court appearance for the murder. At that July 18 hearing, Young entered a denial to the murder charge. Since that hearing, the case had been sealed until the court determined whether Young is competent to stand trial.
Police records from the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office prior to the July 2025 death show a teen who exhibited violent streaks, including beating up his mother. Those records were released after the Midcoast Villager went to court to obtain those documents.
Earlier in the investigation, the state police had reviewed surveillance videos from the campground. The videos showed Young had gone out in his aluminum boat before Stewart. The boat has a motor and oars. Stewart left at 6 p.m. to go paddleboarding on Crawford Pond. Young later could be seen returning to the campground in his boat. Stewart was reported missing when she had not returned by midnight. The Union Fire Department, Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Maine Warden Service searched for Stewart. Her body was found before dawn. An autopsy determined her death to be a homicide.
Witnesses said Young’s actions were never suspicious during the two weeks after Stewart’s death. He would offer to assist other campers with their loose pets, yard work and made wood crafts that he gave to other campers.
Young approached the investigators and said he had some information and had seen something pertaining to the case. He went out on Crawford Pond in a boat with the investigators and a game warden, leading them to the opposite end of 100-Acre Island from where Stewart’s body was found. When they returned to the campground, police continued to interview the teen.
The investigators left the campground but returned that night and went directly to the Youngs’ camper. Police interviewed them for two hours before arresting him.
He was taken to the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
