This condominium in Stockton Springs is where Julio and Sharon Carrillo lived and where police discovered their 10-year-old daughter, Marissa Kennedy, dead on Sunday. Staff photo by David Leaming
The husband and wife charged with beating their 10-year-old daughter to death were living in poverty and had been evicted from their apartment in Bangor several months before they were charged with the girl’s murder, court records show.
Julio Carrillo, 51, and Sharon Carrillo, 33 – who are charged in the brutal killing of Marissa Kennedy – lived on about $975 per month, did not pay any rent at the coastal condominium where they were living and relied on food stamp benefits, as well as food vouchers for families with infants and young children, according to court records filed in Belfast District Court.
The couple’s move from Bangor to Stockton Springs sometime last fall also had another result. Police had far fewer interactions with them after they moved into the community overlooking Penobscot Bay.
Police in Bangor responded to at least six calls for service involving the Carrillos between Dec. 17, 2016, and June 11, 2017. They said in a statement they saw no signs of abuse.
Both adults are being held at the Two Bridges Jail in Wiscasset in lieu of $500,000 bail each. They each face one count of depraved indifference murder in her death Sunday. Police allege they beat Marissa multiple times a day since October until she was unable to walk or speak without slurring her words.
When the couple found Marissa unresponsive last weekend, they hatched a plan to leave her body in a basement boiler room, stage the scene to look like she injured herself, and then call police, investigators said.
But during police interviews, both adults admitted to beating Marissa by forcing her to kneel on the tile floor in the kitchen while they whipped her with a leather belt or struck her with their hands, police said.
In one case, Julio Carrillo broke a metal mop handle across her ribs, according to a police affidavit. An autopsy found that Marissa died of batter child syndrome. Her body showed evidence of extensive trauma as well as old wounds.
Once the Carrillos settled in Stockton Springs, police were summoned to the condominium at 7 Harbor View Drive three times for 911 hangups. Waldo County sheriffs deputies responded to two calls on unknown dates. The Maine State Police responded to one hangup call in October.
The financial disclosures were made in the couple’s separate applications for court-appointed attorneys – both were approved – and showed that the family of five was barely making ends meet.
The condominium is owned by Sharon Carrillo’s family, and no one answered at a number listed in court documents for one of her relatives.
A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Julio Carrillo’s family declined to comment before hanging up.
“I have absolutely no comment,” the unidentified woman said.
Maine State Police have said they will continue to investigate the circumstances of the death and to track down information about the family.
The precise timeline of the Carillos’ living arrangements is unclear.
Neighbors who lived in the same apartment building in Bangor said the Carrillos moved into unit 3 at 591 Main St. in August 2016 and moved out around a year later.
A message Friday to Maine Real Estate Management, the Bangor company that manages the apartment building, was not returned.
Eviction proceedings against the family began April 14, 2017, when Richway Associates, the building’s owner, served the Carrillos with a notice to quit. In June, Richway filed papers to continue the eviction process, and after a June 19 hearing where the couple were represented by an attorney from Pine Tree Legal Services, the sides came to an agreement, details of which were not disclosed in the court records.
A day later, the couple were served with a writ of possession, forcing them out of the unit within 48 hours.
The couple also subsisted on meager income.
Julio Carrillo listed in his court paperwork that he had worked at Walmart for 10 or 11 years, but had most recently taken a job at the Ocean State Job Lot in nearby Belfast about two months ago.
The new job meant a pay cut. When he worked at Walmart, Julio Carrillo earned $11.50 per hour, but took home only $9 per hour at Ocean State Job Lot, where he worked about 25 hours per week, court records show.
Sharon Carrillo had worked at a daycare in New York for about 3½ years at some point in the past, but had not worked recently, court documents show.
A search warrant filed in Belfast District Court also showed that police took DNA samples from both adults, as well as their clothes and multiple items, including two leather belts, from their home.
Police also collected miscellaneous paperwork regarding Marissa, as well as a letter written by Sharon Carrillo addressed “To whom it may concern,” dated Feb. 24, 2018, which stated among other things that the author could no longer control the child, police said.
Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:
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