Gunman not charged in Winthrop shooting, officials say | Media Pyro

Maine State Police detectives and evidence recovery technicians search a mobile home on Square Court in Winthrop where Joshua Martin, 30, was shot and killed in October 2020. A woman initially charged with murder in connection with the case dropped that charge on Tuesday. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal File

AUGUSTA — A New York woman charged with murder in the 2020 shooting death of a New York man at a Winthrop mobile home park has had that charge dismissed as part of a plea deal with state prosecutors in which she admitted she did not fire the gun. It killed him.

Another Connecticut woman has now been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the same death.

Tuesday’s court testimony indicated Kiera Francis30, Bronx, NY, didn’t shoot the late Joshua Martin — someone else did, though that man has not been charged.

A Connecticut woman, Skylie Negron, 24, has not been charged with shooting Martin, but has been charged with murder in his death. A murder charge in Maine can be made when the victim dies during the commission of certain crimes, including robbery, and the crime involving the suspect is considered the cause of death.

A confusing twist in the investigation and prosecution of Martin’s shooting death came Tuesday as part of Francis’ plea and sentencing to a reckless conduct charge that left her alone with a dangerous weapon after a state dismissed murder and robbery charges. Prosecutor.

Martin was shot and killed in his mobile home on Square Court in Winthrop in October 2020.

With the Class A felony murder and robbery charges dismissed, Francis was charged with the remaining Class C reckless conduct and dangerous weapons charges and sentenced to five years in prison, with all but 672 of those days suspended, and two years of probation. The 672 days was chosen because that’s how much time Francis had already served following her arrest, so she was expected to be released immediately, said Scott Hess, one of her defense attorneys along with Lisa Whittier.

Assistant Attorney General Prosecutor Lisa Bogue told Justice Michaela Murphy that the state now believes a man, whom the Kennebec Journal has not named, was responsible for shooting Martin. He has not been charged in the shooting, she said.

A spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office later declined to comment on whether the suspect would be charged in the case.

After an argument between Martin and Francis over the gun Francis was carrying, he shot and killed Martin. He then shot Martin.

At least one witness told police that the argument over the gun began after Martin entered the mobile home where Francis and others lived through a window. The two, who were in a romantic relationship earlier, then fought for two to three hours. At times the argument got so heated that a witness told police he saw Francis brandishing a gun — a Smith and Wesson, not the gun that killed Martin.

Maine State Police detectives and evidence recovery technicians photograph vehicles and a mobile home on Square Court in Winthrop where Joshua Martin was killed in October 2020. A woman initially charged with murder in connection with the case dropped that charge on Tuesday. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal File

Bogue said Frances contacted other people to help either leave the mobile home or Martin wanted to leave. Negron and the man apparently responded by coming to the mobile home. Bogue said items were taken from Mart at some point during the dispute.

Martin’s followers, including the mother of his young, single child, Charisma Kettles, her mother, Inez Burns, of Rochester, N.Y., testified via Zoom Tuesday that his family was devastated by Martin’s death and that his mother killed herself because of it. They believe the plea deal and sentence were too lenient for Francis, who they said they feared because of previous threats.

“His mother took her own life because of this,” an emotional Kettles said in audio played in the courtroom at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta. “She was the only help I had with my son. Who doesn’t have a father. No father to help ride the bike and take him to school. All (Francis’) friends were there and she made it happen. I feel she is not taking responsibility. I don’t see how that can be self defense when you get shot in the head.

Burns said Francis had threatened them earlier and threatened to kill Martin and his son.

“We’re scared of this girl, she might come to kill my daughter and my grandson,” Burns said. “So what do we do as a family, as a grandmother? She’s not remorseful, she’s not sad, she’s just sitting there like a stone cold killer. My whole family is traumatized. “

Asked by Murphy whether the state had investigated reports of threats against Martin’s family, Bogue said family members had indicated they had been threatened, but reviews of Francis’ phone calls from prison had not turned up any threats. her She said family members and Francis had had arguments before Martin’s death.

A criminal complaint filed in court related to Negron’s arrest on Oct. 3, 2020, after her initial court appearance on Oct. 21 after being deported from New York, states that she “acts alone or with one or more persons in the commission, or murder, or murder, and/or robbery, and/or robbery.” Immediately after the attempt to fly resulted in the death of a man named Skyley Negron or another accomplice, Joshua Martin, that death was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of such commission, attempt, or flight.

To say the state would be challenged to prove Francis’ murder beyond a reasonable doubt would be an understatement, said Murphy, who acknowledged the plea deal was a fair outcome, though it was difficult for Martin’s family to accept.

“There have been some twists and turns in this case, for sure,” she said.

Tuesday’s court session was scheduled as a bail review hearing for Francis, but Murphy said he was told the two sides of the case had reached an agreement.

Francis was arrested by police in Waterville in February 2021 during a traffic stop.

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