Father, mother and grandmother plead guilty in death of 10 year old boy

The father, mother, and grandmother of ten-year-old Braxtyn Smith have all pleaded guilty in connection with the Maine boy's death in February 2024, after a court heard he was bound with zip ties, starved, and subjected to sustained abuse. Joshua Smith, 35, entered a guilty plea to depraved indifference murder on Thursday, 11 June, at Penobscot County Superior Court, just days before he was due to stand trial.

WGME reported that Smith's plea came as prosecutors were finalising their case ahead of trial.

Grandmother and mother also admit guilt

Braxtyn's 59-year-old grandmother, Mistie Latourette, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Friday. Braxtyn's mother, Jem Bean, had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter in February, WMTW reported.

How the case came to light

Police launched their investigation on 18 February 2024, after hospital staff at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center raised the alarm that the boy appeared severely malnourished and underweight for his age. A probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE revealed that Braxtyn had first been taken to St Joseph's Hospital emergency room by his mother and grandmother before being transferred to Northern Light, where he died.

A nurse at St Joseph's documented that Braxtyn "had several bruises on his body to include his face, abdomen and extremities." A social worker noted that emergency nursing staff reported the boy was not breathing and had no pulse upon arrival, and that he weighed just 48 pounds at that time.

Disturbing conditions inside the home

A radio technologist at St Joseph's Hospital told detectives that "Braxtyn's vomit had the odor and appearance of cat food, but believed it could have been another type of dry pet food." A witness told investigators that Braxtyn, who his grandmother and mother homeschooled, was also made to eat dog food and had been seen eating from the bin.

An autopsy revealed burn marks on the boy's wrist and foot. The medical examiner also observed "bilateral subdural hemorrhaging and that Braxtyn's brain was herniated," the affidavit states, adding that "he had pressure ulcers on his back, hair loss indicative of stress and/or malnourishment, abrasions on his wrists and ankles, and various contusions. His overall condition was consistent with battered child syndrome."

Zip ties used as restraint

Bean told investigators that she and Smith had used zip ties on Braxtyn during what she described as "tantrums." The affidavit states she described an instance in which "he was having a 'tantrum' so they sat him in a kitchen chair and used zip-ties to bind his ankles to the legs of the chair and his hands behind his back."

Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin told the court that testimony would have established the full extent of the restraint used on the child. "Jem Bean would testify that they made Braxtyn sleep in the bathroom with no more than a blanket. His ankles zip tied to a tote and his hands zip tied behind his back," Robbin said.

Grandmother accused of concealing abuse

Robbin further alleged that Latourette took active steps to hide the abuse from public view. Latourette, said the prosecutor, "actively participated in covering up the abuse by making sure Braxtyn had his sunglasses on when going into a public place to conceal his bruised face."

Latourette's defence attorney, Chris MacLean, acknowledged his client had purchased zip ties on two occasions for Smith and had suggested withholding meals, but disputed that her actions directly caused Braxtyn's death. "She made choices that in retrospect she recognizes could have been handled differently," MacLean said, per the Bangor Daily News. "We thought the better way to handle things is to accept responsibility with manslaughter," he added.