On Oct. 12, the man charged with the death of a 3-year-old Edgecomb girl killed on Christmas Day 2022 was arraigned in Lincoln County Unified Criminal Court. Tyler Witham-Jordan, 29, of Edgecomb and Livermore was arrested in the Christmas Day 2022 death of Makinzlee Handrahan. Witham-Jordan was charged with Depraved Indifference Murder. He is being held on $250,000 bail at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.

The judge scheduled a Dec. 4 disposition conference with Witham-Jordan’s court-appointed lawyers James P. Howaniec and Jesse Archer and State Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Ackerman.

After nearly a year-long investigation, the Maine State Police concluded physical evidence pointed toward Witham-Jordan as the murderer. On Oct. 12, court documents disclosed Handrahan’s mother called 911 around 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2022 after finding her daughter “cold, stiff, bruised and not breathing.” Dispatchers reported hearing the mother say “Oh my God! I think my daughter’s dead.” Witham-Jordan was later identified as the mother’s boyfriend who lived at the Edgecomb apartment. Dispatchers reported hearing the boyfriend saying “I'm f----d" and "I'm finished."

State police investigators interviewed first responders, who said they found bruisers “all over the little girl’s body.” Handrahan’s plastic hairbrush was found broken with Witham-Jordan’s DNA on it as well as Handrahan’s. The mother’s DNA was not found on the brush. Investigators also found Witham-Jordan’s DNA under the 3-year-old’s fingernails, according to the Maine State Police investigation.

The medical examiner ruled the cause of death was “blunt force trauma.” The medical examiner also reported the girl had internal injuries. Court documents reported her wounds were “too severe to be inflicted by another child.” Investigators also say there is evidence Witham-Jordan was up all night on Christmas Eve and he was going through opioid withdrawal.

According to court documents, Lincoln County Sheriff's Office reported there was a Department of Health and Human Services investigation the previous October. The child’s daycare reported she had a “scratch and bruises.” DHHS reported her mother and Witham-Jordan said the marks “were caused by a cat scratch and falling on the stairs.”

State Police reported Witham-Jordan was living with Handrahan and her mother when Handrahan was found dead Christmas Day. State police also unearthed other evidence from their interviews. In preparation for visiting family on Christmas Day, Witham-Jordan was responsible for caring for the children which included giving the victim a bath and detangling a hockey puck-sized clump in her hair. 

On Christmas Eve, the investigation alleged, Witham-Jordan’s priority was getting to Brunswick to purchase “heroin or fentanyl.” After the purchase, he discovered the drugs were fake. 

The investigation showed physical evidence and the scene gave “the appearance the fatal assault started in the bathroom.” During the assault, investigators report, Handrahan’s hair was torn from her head and the hairbrush was broken.

Handrahan’s mouth was reported to be injured and bleeding down into a towel on the bathroom floor. Her diaper was removed and thrown into a trashcan with the hairbrush’s broken head. “It appears Maklinzlee was dragged down the hall into her bedroom causing deep rug burns on her chin, eye and nose. Blood was wiped from her mouth with toilet paper or tissue found on the floor next to her bed. It appears Tyler (Witham-Jordan) put Makinzlee in her bed,” according to the court document.

Rigor mortis set in before 8 a.m. Christmas morning when first responders arrived. “So it’s likely at 2:30 a.m. when Witham-Jordan said he checked in on her at the request of the mother, Makinzlee was either deceased or very close,” read the document.

Witham-Jordan told investigators his daughter or Handrahan’s mother or her other children would not have harmed the victim. Statements made to investigators by Witham-Jordan, Makinzlee’s mother and one of her children reported that on the morning of Dec. 24, 2022, the victim did not have any visible bruises. Investigators reported there were no other adults in the home from Dec. 24, 2022 to when the 911 call was made Dec. 25, 2022.

“Tyler’s DNA is present on the hairbrush, under Makinzlee’s fingernails, and the inside of her bloodstained diaper. The mother’s DNA is excluded from the evidence,” wrote Maine State Police Det. James Moore.

On Oct. 12, Witham-Jordan’s defense team failed in its attempt to seek a lower bail. In court documents, they said their client could not afford the $250,000 bail. His lawyers said the affidavit produced by investigators in support of the arrest failed to state probable cause. “The affidavit states there is more probable cause to believe the alleged victim’s mother committed this crime. Moreover, the affidavit contains false allegations about a prior Department of Health and Human Services investigation against the defendant. It was the mother who was the subject, and Tyler was ruled out as a source of any harm to the child,” wrote the lawyers. 

The defense’s document further states the child was examined by two physicians as part of an October 2022 investigation and “her injuries were determined to be minor.” The defendant’s lawyers also said the arrest affidavit is entirely based on speculation. “The allegations do not even meet the low threshold of probable cause even if the evidence is considered in the most favorable light to the state. Nor has the state presented the case to a grand jury in 10 months since the apparent homicide or requested a Harnish hearing,” wrote the lawyers. 

The lawyers also reported the defendant “adamantly denies he caused the child’s death,” and pointed toward “strange behavior” of the other adult in the household. “There is evidence that the other adult previously harmed the child before the homicide. Most of the factors in the 15 MRSA (Maine Revised Statutes Annotated) 1026 mitigate in favor of the defendant. The defense will address those factors more at the bail hearing,” wrote the lawyers. “Because the state didn’t pursue a Harnish hearing, the state bears the burden of establishing why the defendant should be held.”