BATH — The Augusta woman charged with felony murder in the September death of Andrew Sherman will undergo forensic examinations for competency and criminal responsibility.

That announcement came Wednesday during the initial appearance of Chanda Lilly, 30, of Augusta, who was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Maine State Police detectives in Augusta.

Lilly was initially taken to the Kennebec County Jail on Tuesday but was later taken to Two Bridges Jail in Wiscasset, where she is being held on $100,000 bail.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, with her legs and arms shackled, Lilly sat quietly during the hearing in Superior Court in Bath and answered softly when Justice Daniel Billings asked if she understood the charge against her and if she had had a chance to talk about it with her attorney.

Under Maine law, a person is guilty of felony murder if, acting alone or with others persons, the person commits or attempts to commit a felony — murder, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, arson, gross sexual assault or escape — that causes the death of another person.

Because this was Lilly’s initial appearance, she was not asked to enter a plea.

Clifford Strike, Lilly’s attorney, requested the forensic examinations take place as soon as possible.

Billings asked whether Strike wanted the results of the criminal responsibility exam sealed until he makes an assessment of whether he would proceed with it. Strike said yes.

“I don’t think, quite frankly under the circumstances, that it would be appropriate to try and set bail,” Strike said. “Once the evaluation is done and we can see what’s going on, I think it would be a more appropriate time for the possibility of bail.”

Lilly is the second person charged in connection with the murder of Andrew Sherman.

Sherman, 48, was found dead in his Richmond home on Oct. 11 by a friend who was concerned that Sherman hadn’t been seen in several days.

Initially, the Maine State Police deemed his death suspicious, but on Oct. 22, it was classified as a homicide.

In February, Tyon Shuron, 42, of Augusta, was arrested in Augusta. At his initial hearing, it was revealed that Sherman had been killed at the end of September, approximately 12 days before his body was discovered.

The Office of the Maine Attorney General has impounded the documents in Shuron’s case, leaving only the criminal complaint available for public review.

In Lilly’s case, the file is also sealed, with the exception of the criminal complaint, dated Feb. 27. The complaint, written by Mark Ferreira, a detective with the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit, says only that on or about Sept. 29, that Lilly, acting alone or with one or more persons in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or immediate flight after committing or attempting to commit murder, robbery and/or burglary, caused the death of Sherman and the death was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the commission, attempt or flight.

The bail conditions for Lilly include no contact with Shuron and not to leave the state of Maine.

Her next court appearance is scheduled for May 6.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Agent: NY man hauled drugs to Maine by bus

Next »

Lewiston Little League discovers squatters living in snack shack