WEST BATH, Maine — On Tuesday, an Edgecomb man accused of killing a three-year-old girl in December of 2022 made his first court appearance at the West Bath District Court.
Tyler Witham-Jordan, 29, is charged with intentional, knowing, or depraved indifference murder in the death of Makinzlee Handrahan. She was pronounced dead on Christmas Day last year after her mother (Witham-Jordan's then-girlfriend) called 911, reporting Makinzlee was not breathing.
An affidavit released Tuesday indicates Makinzlee died by non-accidental blunt force trauma, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. It says the girl had bruises on her face, right ear, head, back, and stomach. It also says she had rug-burn marks on her chin, nose, and right eye and was missing clumps of hair from her head. The autopsy showed her stomach was full of blood.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said a child would not have been strong enough to injure Makinzlee in that way. A search warrant of the home revealed Makinzlee's blood in the upstairs bathroom and in her bedroom. Further investigation found Witham-Jordan's DNA on a broken hairbrush with the girl's hair in it. It also found Witham-Jordan's DNA on a swab taken from underneath Makinzlee's fingernails.
The affidavit indicates there had been a previous Maine Department of Health and Human Services investigation into Makinzlee's well-being two months prior in October of 2022. It came after her daycare reported she had a scratch and bruises. Makinzlee's mother and Witham-Jordan said she was scratched by a cat and fell down some stairs. Witham-Jordan was a suspect in that child abuse investigation.
In court Tuesday, defense attorney Jim Howaniec stated Witham-Jordan "wildly denies" the charges against him.
"We don’t even think there’s probable cause in this case," Howaniec said. "We think the state has a theory about what happened, and they’re fitting square pegs into round holes here.”
That theory includes a mention in the affidavit that Witham-Jordan was experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms at the time of Makinzlee's death. Howaniec also expressed frustration, saying he had received zero information from the state about discovery and evidence so far.
“We this past weekend for the first time received a 33-page affidavit that contained information that we were reading about for the first time in 10 months," Howaniec said.
Prosecutor Jennifer Ackerman, however, argued an investigation like this can take a while.
"This case has been investigated for quite some time, and so the state has now decided to move on these charges," Ackerman said. "We certainly believe there is enough to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
Bail has been set at $250,000 cash for the time being. Witham-Jordan's attorneys have asked for a hearing to argue for different bail "soon". The judge said at that hearing, they will also discuss discovery issues.