Boy, 17, suspected of killing paddleboarder is pictured after murder that's filled sleepy town with terror
Deven Young, 17, was taken into custody on Wednesday night and later charged with the murder of Sunshine Stewart, 48, who was beaten and strangled to death in Union, Maine, on July 3, hours after setting off alone to paddleboard on Crawford Pond.
Young appeared in a Knox County courtroom on Friday morning via Zoom, where he denied responsibility for Stewart's death.
He spoke only to acknowledge that he understood the charges against him and that he'd conferred with his court-appointed attorney.
Judge Eric Walker ordered Young to remain in custody on a charge that he caused Stewart's death either intentionally, knowingly, or with depraved indifference, the Midcoast Villager reported.
Police affidavits and additional information regarding the evidence against Young will remain under seal until a status conference is held on August 22, Walker ruled.
The state has requested Young's case be moved to adult court, but the motion has not yet been ruled on.
For now, Young remains in custody at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
Young is from Frankfort, Maine, but regularly spends summer vacations with his family on Crawford Pond, a source previously told the Daily Mail.
His Facebook page states that he had attended Hampden Academy but left in 2023. He will turn 18 in September.
Young's profile picture shows him posing with a shotgun in a chair, staring slack-jawed at the camera, with a cartoon American flag superimposed at his feet.
His last post on the platform, dated July 12, included an image of a boat anchored on a lake at sunset. It's not clear where the image was taken.
Asked by a friend in a comment beneath the post how he was, Young responded: 'I'm doing good how are you doing.'
At the time the message was posted, state police were frantically scouring Union to find Stewart's killer.
Young was arrested in the town on Wednesday evening without incident.
His parents and grandparents have not responded to requests for comment.
Any connections the teen had to Stewart are not yet known.
News of her murder left residents of the small, tight-knit community of Union terrified.
Among them was Meredith Smith, a childhood friend of Stewart's, who the Daily Mail she was stunned by the news of Young's arrest.
'Part of me is relieved that someone has been arrested, but the other part says this is far from over because I feel like there's still so much more to this story that we don't know,' said Smith.
'Sunshine was strong and feisty; she would've put up a fight...she would've given this person hell.'
The Maine Attorney General's office confirmed to the Daily Mail that Young is the only suspect in Stewart's death.
Stewart was last seen leaving her camper to go paddleboarding on Crawford Pond at around 6pm on July 2.
When she had still not returned by the early hours of July 3, someone raised the alarm.
Before dawn broke, a search and rescue drone spotted Stewart's paddleboard drifting alone.
Her body was later discovered along the southeast shore of 100 Acre Island, a nature preserve in the middle of the pond.
Police have not confirmed any details of how Stewart's body was found, or in what condition, sharing only that the circumstances were 'unusual.'
An autopsy determined that Stewart's death was a homicide, but law enforcement shared few updates over the following two weeks.
Smith told the Daily Mail on Monday that she was struggling to understand why anyone would harm her dear friend.
'Everyone who knew her loved her,' she said. 'Who would do something like this to her? She didn't have any enemies… there's nothing she could've done to make anybody mad enough to harm her.
'We're all on edge, it's just so scary… if it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.'
Local police urged residents of Union to remain calm but be 'aware of their surroundings'.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that Maine State Police were collecting DNA samples from men who were near Crawford Pond on the night Stewart vanished, as first reported by the Midcoast Villager.
It's unclear whether the arrest of the teen came as a result of DNA.
Smith told the Daily Mail she feared what the DNA search may indicate about Stewart's final moments of life.
'I feel like it's insinuating something that they're only taking DNA from men and not women,' she said.
'You wonder, could this have been done by someone that was obsessed with her? Or maybe it was completely random and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
'She was a strong person and would have given them a tough fight because she was feisty.'
With police offering little in the way of updates until Thursday, the radio silence caused rumors, conspiracies, and fear to prosper in the small town of Union.
News of Stewart's death renewed fears that a serial killer could be preying on victims across New England undetected, following a string of unexplained deaths.
At least 13 bodies have been discovered throughout Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine since March 2025, with the majority of them found in wooded or secluded areas and some submerged in water.
Most of the deaths are unexplained, with many of the victims showing no visible signs of trauma.
Law enforcement in multiple states has repeatedly denied any confirmed link between the cases and urged the public to refrain from jumping to conclusions and peddling baseless speculation.
Various experts have also claimed there are no consistent patterns between the crimes, with victim profiles, locations of the deaths, and suspected causes too varying to be the work of one person.
Still, some residents in Union feared the worst.
'People are definitely having that conversation, but for me it feels a little farfetched,' Smith said on Monday.
'When you look at where Sunny was killed, it's secluded and unless you're really familiar with the area, you're unlikely to know how to get to Crawford Pond.'
Union is a sleepy hamlet where most residents know each other - the kind of place where people rarely lock their doors.
But since Stewart's murder, Smith said she keeps her door firmly bolted and also often catches herself glancing over her shoulder or eyeing unfamiliar faces with suspicion.
In the meantime, Smith continues to grieve the loss of her friend, who was a carpenter, marine biologist, lobsterman, bartender, and boat captain.
Smith said: 'She was a force of nature who was strong-willed, independent, outgoing, and adventurous. She had a smile and a laugh that was so contagious.
'Sunny was a free-bird spirit who loved what she did and was just living day-to-day enjoying her life… It's devastating.'
Investigators are asking anyone who saw Stewart paddling on the evening of July 2 to reach out to the Maine State Police at 207-624-7076.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Woman is found dead inside boat docked at ritzy Hamptons yacht club
A ritzy Hamptons village has been left on edge after a dead woman was found inside a docked boat at a yacht club. The unidentified victim was located on a boat at the lavish Montauk Yacht Club early Tuesday morning, according to Suffolk County police.
The Sun
18 minutes ago
- The Sun
Human remains found in woodland after ‘tent seen there for months' as cops launch probe
HUMAN remains have been found in a woodland following reports of a "tent seen there for months" by locals. The remains were discovered in woods near East Fleetham in Northumberland on Sunday evening. 2 It is unknown how long the remains have been there for, but Northumbria Police have launched an investigation. Officers remain at the scene of the discovery. A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: 'Shortly before 9pm on Sunday (August 3) we received a report that human remains had been found in a wooded area in East Fleetham near Beadnell. "An investigation has been launched. Officers currently remain at the scene and enquiries remain ongoing.' Enquiries are being made to help establish the identity of the body and the circumstances leading to the death. 2
Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Councillor strangled partner over sarcastic comment while watching TV show Married At First Sight together, court hears
A local councillor tried to strangle his partner during a violent attack at their home after she made a 'sarcastic' remark about sex, a court heard today. Ashley Farrall, 43, allegedly grabbed Katie Jones by the throat and pushed her against banisters in the row said to have been triggered by a scene they watched in the television programme 'Married At First Sight'. Farrall, a Labour councillor for Cheshire East Council at the time, later persuaded her to make a retraction statement and provided 'burner' phones to conceal their discussions which were prohibited by a bail conditions, Chester Crown Court was told. Ms Jones sat behind a screen as she gave evidence on the opening day of a trial today and described how the couple had settled down to watch the E4 programme, where recently introduced couples embark on a marriage-like relationship, after putting their six-month-old son to bed at their home in Macclesfield in November last year. She said: 'We were watching Married At First Sight. Ashley made some comment about sex - that it was not just physical for him but very emotional as well. 'I reacted back with a sarcastic comment and he was not happy about it. He had taken offence.' Ms Jones said she decided to go to bed and collected the baby monitor, a glass of water and her phone. 'He came upstairs and wanted to continue the argument. I was in bed and wanted to go to sleep so I decided to go to the spare room,' she added. 'He was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. We were still arguing and he grabbed me. 'I did not get to the spare room. Ashley became really very angry and really not himself. He was shouting at me 'you are mad' and 'we are not an item anymore'. 'He ran toward me and it was at that point he tried to strangle me. His hand was on my throat and his fingers were on either side of my neck. 'I was up against the banister. It was awful. I never expected it and I did not know what to do. I scratched his face. I was desperate to get him to stop.' Farrall then 'relaxed' and walked away as she made a 999 call to report the attack. Ms Jones told the court that she walked out of the house with her baby after the call because she was 'afraid he would come back'. Jurors were shown police bodycam footage in which Ms Jones told officers the attack was over 'a ridiculous argument' and that the couple, who had been together for two-and-a-half years, 'rarely' argued. She went on to say that she didn't want the matter to go court because it would 'ruin his career'. But she told the court she later changed her mind because she 'wanted to do right thing for our son' and Farrall was charged with the attack, appearing at Warrington Magistrates Court two days later. In her opening statement, prosecutor Rosemary Proctor said Ms Jones went to stay with her mother in Prestatyn, North Wales, after the attack and Farrall visited her to persuade her to retract her statement. 'He cried and promised her that he would seek counselling. He persuaded her to retract the statement and she did,' she told the jury. 'She did so in the belief that he would plead guilty to strangling her. He had duped her.' Ms Proctor added that Farrall provided two 'burner' phones to keep in contact and sent messages suggesting the wording of Ms Jones' retraction statement, telling her to say that the police 'had put words into her mouth'. The ongoing contact was in defiance of the defendant's bail conditions which forbade direct or indirect contact with Ms Jones, the court was told. Ms Proctor said: 'Farrall was getting in the way that justice is meant to be done by manipulating Katie into giving the retraction statement.' During her evidence, Ms Jones said she had believed he partner's promises that he would get counselling and she wanted him to remain part of their son's life. Ms Jones told Chester Crown Court she had 'issues, like everyone has issues' with their partners and didn't want the offence to go to court initially because it would 'ruin' Farrall's career 'We had issues, like everyone has issues, but we were happy in general. We had a baby together and he had disappeared. I just wanted him to come home,' she told the court. During arranged meetings in Wales and at Poynton, Cheshire, Farrall seemed 'apologetic' and claimed he had never meant to hurt her. She added: 'He told me if I made the retraction statement it would all go away.' Ms Jones said Farrall showed him a draft of the retraction at a meeting on the beach at Prestatyn which she then passed on to Cheshire Police. 'I trusted him that it would all go away - the charge,' she said. But Ms Jones decided to proceed with the prosecution after another meeting with Farrall during which his 'attitude changed'. 'He was all agitated with me. It was an awful interaction and we argued the majority of the time,' she said. 'He said I was remembering things incorrectly. It showed me he was not interested in doing the right thing and accepting what had happened.' The court was told of WhatsApp messages police downloaded from the burner phones which Farrall provided. In one, Ms Jones asked him if there was 'anything specific I need to do or say' before making the retraction statement. Farrall allegedly urged her to keep to the draft that he had helped her compose on her phone. She replied: 'I love so much. We will get through this. Friends are telling me not to withdraw and I am really fighting this more than you know.' But after she became suspicious of his motives, she wrote: 'I need to know what you are doing. You are playing me for an idiot.' Cross-examined by Jessica Foster, Ms Jones agreed that she had been drinking 'intermittently' throughout the day of the alleged attack but denied she was drunk. She also accepted she had been through a traumatic birth and was on medication for migraines and sleep. Ms Foster, who suggested the witness was also 'self-medicating with alcohol' and had a habit of picking fights when drunk, added: 'On that night you picked a fight about one of his previous relationship. Something had set you off. You started an argument about other women.' Ms Jones denied the claim and a suggestion that Farrall had put up his hands to defend himself and made contact with her left shoulder when she 'lunged' at him. 'Your emotions took over when he told you the relationship was over,' the barrister said, prompting the response: 'He strangled me.' Farrall, who now represents Macclesfield Central as a 'non-grouped' councillor, denies intentional strangulation of Ms Jones and committing acts intending to pervert the course of justice. The trial continues.
