AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, the Senate approved a bill from Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, to prioritize the scheduling of child homicide trials. An amended version of LD 1857, “’An Act To Prioritize the Prosecution of Child Homicide Cases,” received unanimous, bipartisan support on a roll call vote.
“Last year was the deadliest year on record for Maine kids, including four tragic cases where a parent has been charged with murder or manslaughter in the death of their infant or toddler,” said Sen. Diamond. “Past cases have shown that critical information about what went wrong for these kids – about how and why they were let down so badly – only comes to light once cases go to trial. By prioritizing the scheduling of these trials, we can learn this information more quickly and apply what we learn to save other kids.”
As amended, LD 1857 would require the Attorney General to formally request that the courts give priority in scheduling homicide cases where the victim is younger than 18 years old. Sen. Diamond introduced LD 1857 after learning that, because of a backlog of cases caused by the pandemic, last June’s child death cases would take longer to go to trial than they typically would, thus delaying the revelation of critical information in these cases. The amendment also altered the title and language of the bill to include all child homicides, not just murders.
A longtime advocate for reform in Maine’s child welfare system, Sen. Diamond highlighted key pieces of information that have been brought to light only when past child murder cases have gone to trial. For example, the trial in the death of 10-week-old Ethan Henderson, who was killed by his father in May 2012, revealed the failures of mandated reporters to report Ethan’s injuries to the authorities. The trial also revealed that DHHS caseworkers were in Ethan’s home to conduct a welfare check on him just days before his death, but failed to follow through because Ethan was sleeping. Making failures such as these known has been critical as the Legislature seeks to improve Maine’s child welfare system.