The stepfather accused of killing 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy last year will change his plea to guilty.
Court documents filed Monday indicate that Julio Carrillo will enter his plea in Waldo County Superior Court next week. Carrillo initially pleaded not guilty when he was charged with depraved indifference murder last year.
Carrillo’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. Laura Shaw, an attorney representing Marissa Kennedy’s mother, Sharon Carrillo, says the guilty plea validates her client’s claim that Julio Carrillo was responsible for her daughter’s death.
Sharon Carrillo also faces a charge of depraved indifference murder. Immediately after her daughter’s death, she told police that she shared responsibility. But her attorneys have since argued that both mother and daughter were the victims of severe abuse.
Kennedy’s death helped spur an overhaul of Maine’s child protective services.
Originally published July 15, 2019 at 5:58 p.m. ET.
