BELFAST – The director of the State Forensic Service took the stand at a hearing about whether or not a murder confession involving the beating death of a 10-year-old girl should be thrown out.
Psychologist Dr. Sarah Miller testified during accused murderer Sharon Carrillo’s suppression hearing that she was a victim of domestic violence.
Miller said the physical abuse “included hitting, slapping, pulling her hair, choking her, hitting her in the stomach while she was pregnant.”
“Being forced to kneel on her knees on something like a cheese grater,” she added later. ”She described it as something she was forced to do as part of the abuse.”
During one police investigation, Carrillo reported her husband threatened her.
“She said that her husband told her he would kill her if she told anyone he was abusing her,” Miller reported the accused told her.
During the cross-examination, the prosecutor asked if the doctor had reviewed any medical records before 2015 or if she had questioned anyone besides the accused. The doctor answered no to both questions.
“Mrs. Carrillo also indicated that her biggest fear was her other children being taken away and having to go to jail? Is that correct?”Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea asked.
“Yes,” Miller replied.
“One of the reasons why she didn’t initially tell the officers what she had been involved with in doing to her child. Is that correct?” Zainea asked.
“Yes. That’s what she reported,” Miller said.
During Thursday’s testimony, a Maine State Police evidence video was shown of Sharon Carrillo walking detectives through the Stockton Springs home where her daughter, Marissa Kennedy, died in February 2018. She showed the investigators where the beatings occurred and some of the items used on the girl.
The defense focused on their client’s mental health at Friday’s hearing, beginning around when she married Julio Carrillo, who is also charged with murder in the brutal beating death of his stepdaughter.
“The evidence is starting to come out. What’s happened to Sharon Carrillo is absolutely clear. She was the victim of severe domestic violence, sexual torture, physical and psychological torture. And just as Marissa Kennedy was. And the only difference is that Sharon Carrillo was able to survive and Marissa Kennedy wasn’t.”
Both the defense and the prosecution are submitting written closing arguments in the suppression hearing, so it will be at least a couple of weeks before Judge Robert Murray’s decision is released.
