The mother of Makinzlee Handrahan spent the better part of three days on the witness stand during the ongoing murder trial of former live-in boyfriend Tyler Witham-Jordan.
Witham-Jordan, 31, stands accused of depraved indifference murder in the Christmas 2022 death of the then 3-year-old Edgecomb girl.
As previously reported in The Lincoln County News, emergency medical services were first called to the home Makinzlee shared with her mother Faith Lewis, two half-siblings, and Witham-Jordan off Route 1 in Edgecomb after the 3-year-old was discovered unresponsive in her bed before 7:37 a.m. Dec. 25, 2022. After determining that the child was deceased, her body was transported to MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital’s Miles Campus in Damariscotta.
An autopsy the following day identified extensive bruising on the girl’s body, abrasions on her face, and internal bleeding in her skull and abdomen. Maine Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Liam Funte determined the cause of death was “homicide caused by nonaccidental blunt force trauma.”
Witham-Jordan was arrested in connection with her death in October 2023
A December 2024 trial at the Lincoln County Superior Court in Wiscasset was declared a mistrial after Lewis broke down on the stand when presented with autopsy photos of her daughter’s body. The case was subsequently moved to Sagadahoc County and started earlier this month.
Lewis said in her testimony that Witham-Jordan asked her to drive him to Brunswick the morning of Christmas Eve to pick up Suboxone strips, a prescription medication he used to treat opioid dependence.
Lewis said she had been feeling sick for the last several days and was diagnosed with the flu but the couple, along with three of their four children, including Makinzlee who was also unwell, made the 35-minute drive from Edgecomb to Brunswick. Witham-Jordan’s 9-year-old daughter stayed home.
They pulled into a Shell station on Pleasant Street where Witham-Jordan purchased an eight-ball of cocaine from Antwan Gildersleeve, of Lewiston. Lewis, who stayed in the car with the kids, said she was not aware of the nature of the transaction.
In his testimony, Gildersleeve said Witham-Jordan was not happy with the quality of the cocaine and arranged for another eight-ball to be delivered that night to the Edgecomb apartment.
According to Lewis, when the family returned home around noon or 1 p.m. Witham-Jordan put Makinzlee down for her afternoon nap. Lewis testified that it was the last time she saw her daughter alive.
A short time later Lewis also went upstairs to lie down. She said she turned on the television and a fan and dozed intermittently.
Lewis said she was awakened by Witham-Jordan around 4 or 5 p.m. When she asked how Makinzlee was, he told her the little girl had gotten up but asked to go back to bed and was still sleeping.
Lewis testified she made dinner, watched the NORAD Santa tracker with the three older children, smoked a cigarette outside with Witham-Jordan and Gildersleeve, and after the kids were in bed, she brought down Christmas presents for the kids.
Her testimony and multiple text messages indicate that Lewis repeatedly asked how Makinzlee was doing and that Witham-Jordan told her each time that he had checked on her and she was OK. She did not check on her daughter herself.
The next morning she went to wake her daughter.
“I said ‘Makinzlee, Santa came!’ And she did not jump up like she usually does so I went in the room,” Lewis said.
Lewis said she saw bruising on her daughter’s body and got down on her knees and pulled Makinzlee into her arms. She screamed for Witham-Jordan who attempted to perform CPR while Lewis dialed 911.
“She was only in a pull-up,” Lewis said. “I pretty much sat right there screaming for help.”
While she teared up several times during her testimony, Lewis remained composed. She was not shown the photos of her daughter’s body that prompted her emotional outburst and the 2024 mistrial.
The prosecution laid out a case based on evidence collection and testimony regarding Witham-Jordan’s demeanor on Christmas Day and on his drug use, including “dozens of texts” from his attempts to purchase drugs on Christmas Eve.
In addition, there were numerous items found in the upstairs bathroom and in Makinzlee’s bedroom that showed red brown staining and that later tested positive for blood.
Jason Richards from the Maine State Police Evidence Response Team took 253 photographs of the scene, including multiple items found with red-brown staining. A broken hairbrush with a large clump of hair, a used diaper, and small blood spots on the floor and wall were found in the upstairs bathroom. Testing indicated a presumptive positive result for blood which was later confirmed at the state crime lab.
According to forensic chemist Alison Gingras, microscopic analysis of the hair in the hairbrush indicated that it was in the anagen stage of growth, meaning that it would not naturally shed but would have required the use of force to remove it from the child’s scalp.
The diaper tested positive for blood and for Witham-Jordan’s DNA.
Defense attorney James Howaniec asked Lewis multiple times about whether she had brushed Makinzlee’s hair or whether Witham-Jordan had given Makinzlee a bath on Christmas Eve. Lewis testified that neither had happened that day. She also testified that Makinzlee “hated when anybody brushed (her hair). She always cried.”
Howaniec asked Lewis repeatedly about not seeing her sick child for hours.
“You didn’t walk 10 feet to go check on her,” he said.
“I wish I had,” Lewis responded. “I trusted Tyler and I was a little lazy at that minute, I can admit.”
Howaniec also pointed to a text message from Lewis to Witham-Jordan at 2:30 a.m. in which she said “Please, I’m really nervous. She’s never been this sick. She hasn’t peed or ate or anything. I don’t want something bad to happen to her.”
When challenged about discrepancies between her testimony and her statement to the police at the hospital, Lewis said “I was upset. I was in shock. I was hurt. I had a bunch of emotions. I was not fully thinking straight because I didn’t know what was going on and I just wanted to know what happened.”
The defense also pointed out several items that were not taken into evidence or processed at the crime scene. The soiled diaper Makinzlee was wearing when she was taken to the hospital was not collected or tested. According to Sgt. Scott Bryant, commander of the Maine State Police Evidence Response Team, the diaper was thrown away after being removed from Makinzlee’s body at the medical examiner’s office.
Testimony indicated that the baby monitor in the adults’ bedroom had alarmed in response to a drop in temperature in Makinzlee’s room and that the bedroom window was open and the fan turned on high despite the December weather. But neither the fan nor the window-opening mechanism were tested for fingerprints or DNA.
It has been over three years since the crime occurred and several witnesses, including Lewis, testified that they were unable to remember specific details.
As of Wednesday, Feb. 25 the state has not completed presenting its case. Citing the snow day on Monday, Feb. 23, Maine Superior Court Justice Dan Billings asked the jury about their availability for next week. Every juror indicated they would be available.
