It has been more than four months since Maine courts threw a shroud of secrecy over the proceedings in the state’s case against Deven Young (now 18 years old) for the brutal murder of a St. George woman on a pond in Union early last July, and – given the current weather- you can’t even hear crickets as the wheels of justice allegedly turn.
“Because the case is non-public, I cannot provide any further information, including hearing schedules or any anticipated proceedings,” Barbara Cardone, spokeswoman for the Maine courts, told The Maine Wire on Tuesday. If the case again becomes public, we will be posting public documents on our high-profile page.”
“The case is still non-public,” added Cardone, legal-affairs director for the Maine Judicial Branch. “I am unable to release any additional information about status.”
Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart, 48, of Tenants Harbor in Maine’s midcoast, died from a homicide by strangulation and blunt force trauma on a small island in Crawford Pond in Union, Maine State Police reported back in July.
After a weeks-long investigation, State Police arrested the then 17-year-old Deven Young for her killing after he approached investigators who were reportedly about to collect a DNA sample from his father, Jesse Young.
Prosecutors said at the time they were seeking to try Young as an adult but they have revealed little more.
The popular Stewart has been remembered by friends and loved ones as an adventurous, strong, and vibrant woman who loved the outdoors.
Her savage murder sent shockwaves through the small community where she rented a campsite. The accused killer and his family were also regulars at the Mic-Mac Campground on the shore of Crawford Pond.
“Merry Christmas to all! Caught Santa’s reindeer coming through the campground last night!”
That’s how Katharine Lunt, who runs Mic Mac Campground, apparently chose to remember Sunny Stewart in a Facebook post five days ago.
Lunt even attached a video from her “security” cameras of deer happily prancing through the property. Those same cameras reportedly captured Young headed to and from the murder scene in early July.
As of the last public reports, Young was being held at the Long Creek Youth Detention Facility in South Portland where he was supposed to be assessed for competency to stand trial. In the past year there have been multiple escapes from Long Creek.
Meanwhile, Stewart’s many friends throughout the midcoast are left wondering whether the wheels of justice are indeed turning and when, if ever, there will be some accounting for the violent and savage killing of a young woman best known as always being there for others and bringing much-needed light to an often dark world.
