The 10-year-old girl who died in Stockton Springs on Sunday was beaten and abused for months by the two adults now charged with her murder, according to court records filed by police.
Since October, Marissa Kennedy was beaten multiple times each day by her mother, Sharon Carrillo, 33, and Julio Carrillo, 51, the girl’s stepfather, according to a police affidavit filed in Waldo County District Court in Belfast.
The couple told police that they staged the scene inside their Stockton Springs condominium to make it appear as if Kennedy’s death was the result of an accidental injury the girl inflicted on herself, according to the documents.
Each faces one count of depraved indifference murder.
The Carrillos told police that they punished Kennedy by forcing the girl to kneel on a tile floor and hold her hands above her head while they whipped her between 10 and 15 times with a leather belt or hit her with their hands, they told investigators. The adults said they chose the tile of the kitchen floor, rather than a carpeted or wooden surface, so it would hurt more. She was also periodically locked in a dark closet as a punishment.
In one instance, they used a metal mop handle, which broke from the force of the blows, according to police.
The beatings continued from about October until Feb. 22 or Feb. 23, when Kennedy could not longer walk or speak without slurred speech, according to police. Julio Carrillo told investigators that although he stopped beating Kennedy at this time, he believed that his wife inflicted at least one more punishment because she believed the girl was faking her injuries.
Julio Carrillo told police that on Feb. 24, the girl was unresponsive. He and his wife discussed how they would stage the scene, and planned to use the basement boiler room as the location. Julio Carrillo carried Kennedy’s body into the basement room and laid her on the concrete floor, knocked over two chairs and a step stool in an effort to stage the scene.
After two or three hours, Julio Carrillo told police he went back into the boiler room and carried Kennedy into the home. Sharon Carrillo then tried to clean the girl. The couple then called 911.
“Julio Carrillo explained that he knew Marissa Kennedy was badly injured and in need of medical help but chose not to get her help because he figured Sharon Carillo would lie about how she was hurting Marissa Kennedy and he would be the only one left to blame because he would be honest about what he was doing to her,” the affadavit says.
An autopsy on Kennedy found she died of battered child syndrome, and had recently suffered a subdural hematoma, a lacerated liver and showed signs of multiple old injuries, and was caused by acute and chronic abuse.
The family had been living in Bangor before moving last fall to the Stockton Springs condominium, which is owned by Sharon Carrillo’s parents, state police said.
At the time of the girl’s death, there were two other children – ages 1 and 2 – in the home. They were the Carrillos’ children, and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services took custody of them, a state police spokesman said.
Sharon Carrillo and Julio Carrillo
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