BATH — The woman charged in connection with the murder of a Richmond man sat on the witness stand in Sagadahoc County Superior Court and described what happened leading up to and on the day when Andrew Sherman was killed in his home in late September 2019.

Often with her eyes downcast, speaking sometimes softly and firmly, Chanda Lilly described the details of her professional relationship with Sherman and her personal relationship with Tyon Shuron, 46, who is accused of fatally shooting Sherman.

As part of a deal, Lilly pleaded guilty in March to a charge of robbery and agreed to testify against Shuron at his trial.

Her appearance in court for most of Tuesday afternoon followed a day and a half of testimony from Richmond police, Maine State Police investigators and staff from the state Crime Lab and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, detailing their actions when they were first called to Sherman’s Kimball Street home following the discovery of his body and the days following as they collected evidence.

Lilly, through questioning from the prosecution, said she first met Shuron when he was married to her older sister, and was in a romantic and sexual relationship with him in 2019 that they kept hidden from her family. At that time, Shuron was living in Augusta, and her sister was not living with him.

While she testified, Shuron sat at the defense table, sometimes with his hands on his cheeks or one hand in front of his mouth.

Lilly said that Shuron didn’t like the work she did as a model, which ranged from fashion and beauty and glamor to swimsuit, lingerie and nude modeling. Lilly said she enjoyed the modeling because it was something she was good at; it gave her something to do and she was interested in the business.

She met Sherman through Model Mayhem, an online platform that connects models and photographers, and she did photoshoots with him in a variety of locations, including in Sherman’s backyard, in the woods, in his home and in hers.

“(Shuron) got really upset at me — at the situation because he believed Andrew Sherman was taking advantage of me, exploiting me in a bad way,” Lilly said.

At what would be her final photo shoot with Sherman at her apartment, Sherman had brought Lilly shopping to pick up items that would be used in the videos and photos he wanted; he chose a squash, a cucumber, a toilet plunger, a hammer, a light bulb and other items.

“He explained to me the use of them,” she said, saying Sherman wanted to take photos and videos of her using the items in sexually explicit poses.

She said she was comfortable with that, but he should probably make it quick.

During the photoshoot, she said Shuron showed up and let himself in, demanding to know whether the photographer was Sherman. They fought outside in the parking lot, and Lilly said she tried to get her key back from him. She denied the photographer was Sherman and instead said the man’s name was Bob.

“He said, ‘If it is that guy then I’m going to go into my car and get a taser and taze him and kill him,'” she said. “He was saying it was exploitation, and it was rape.”

After the fight, Lilly returned to the shoot after telling Shuron he couldn’t sit and watch, thinking that Shuron would go home and she would talk to him later. But instead, she said, he stayed and was taking pictures of the photoshoot through a window. She looked for some fabric and tape to cover the window so he wouldn’t be able to see what was happening.

Later though, she said, she admitted to Shuron that Sherman was the photographer, and Shuron was angry.

At Shuron’s urging, she called Sherman to ask for the photos while on speaker, but said Sherman wouldn’t return them because he had paid her for them. He asked to see the check that Sherman had written her, but she didn’t remember if he took a picture of it before Shuron took her to the bank so she could cash it.

The night of the murder, Lilly said Shuron was agitated and pacing in his Washington Street home. He gathered up some items there, and they went to Walmart to pick up some other items before driving to Richmond with her lying down on the back seat.

When they arrived in Richmond, they entered Sherman’s home and went into his bedroom where he was asleep on his waterbed. Lilly said she heard an explosion or a boom, and when the light went on, Sherman had been shot in the arm, and she saw Shuron holding a gun.

Lilly said Sherman said he’d give them anything they wanted if they would get out. Shuron demanded the photos from Sherman, who said he wouldn’t give them up. Shuron instructed Lilly to get Sherman out of the bed and stand him against the wall so he could question him.

Sherman and Shuron argued, with Shuron accusing Sherman of exploiting Lilly.

“He said, ‘On the count of three, tell me where the pictures are or I’m going to shoot you,'” Lilly said.

She said Shuron shot him in the head. After that, she said Shuron asked her to help him find the bullet casings and the bullet that went through the wall. Before they left, they collected computer equipment, a camera, some compact discs and electronics. Lilly waited in the car while Shuron returned to the house.

On their way back to Augusta, she said Shuron insisted they change clothes, and they stopped briefly while Shuron tossed some items over a flat bridge they were on; she didn’t know where that bridge was. And several days later, when pressed by Shuron, she said he could dispose of Sherman’s belongings in Appleton, where she had lived with her family when she was a child. She went with him.

Following the execution of police search warrants at their homes, Shuron was arrested in February and Lilly was arrested in March, after a stay at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta.

Lilly was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with all but four years suspended, on the felony charge and four years of probation. At the time of her plea, she had been custody since her March 2020 arrest, and was given credit for time served. She has since completed that sentence.

Lilly completed her testimony on Wednesday.

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