A 10-year-old boy from Bangor who died in February endured months of abuse.
On a daily basis, police say in court affidavits that Braxtyn Smith was restrained in zip ties - his ankles to a chair, his hands behind his back, even to his parents, Joshua Smith and Jem Bean. They say he had been slapped on the head and withheld food. Those punishments were suggested by his paternal grandmother, Mistie LaTourette, who told investigators that Braxtyn would try to eat food out of the trash.
Hospital staff say he wasn't breathing by the time his mother and grandmother brought him to St. Joseph's emergency room on the morning of Feb. 18. They say he was bruised, appeared malnourished, had bleeding in the brain, as well as wounds consistent with sexual abuse.
He was resuscitated after 25 minutes and transferred to the ICU at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, where he died that night.
Braxtyn's parents say he was homeschooled, and the Bangor police say they never received reports of concern about the family, which has another child.
A spokesperson for Maine's Department of Health and Human Services said they couldn't comment on whether the state was involved with the family due to confidentiality laws, but called the charges in the case "deeply disturbing."
The spokesperson said that Jem Bean works for the Department, in an administrative position at Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital that does not involve direct patient care.
Bean told investigators that she was also abused by Joshua Smith.
Both parents and the grandmother have been charged with depraved indifference murder.
