Wells man set for trial over shooting death of his young niece
Jun. 9—BIDDEFORD — Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of a Wells man who is accused of firing a gun at his family's home, killing his 2-year-old niece and injuring his brother.
Andrew Huber Young, 22, is charged with murder in the May 2022 death of Octavia Jean Young. He also faces two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault against his father and brother.
He has pleaded not guilty and his attorney, David Bobrow, has said that his client never intended to kill anyone. Huber Young didn't know Octavia was dead until after talking with police hours after the shooting, Bobrow said last fall.
Huber Young told police in a lengthy interview, hours after the shooting, that he was mad at his brother Ethan for stealing a T-shirt and threatening to destroy his hamster cage, according to an arrest affidavit by Maine State Police Detective Conner Walton.
"Andrew said that he aimed at Ethan's chest before shooting, but he claimed he didn't intend to kill Ethan," Walton wrote. "He claimed he wanted Ethan's respect. Andrew said he has an anger-control problem."
According to the affidavit, Huber Young told police the shooting took place at his parents' home following a fight with his brother that started when Huber Young noticed him wearing his T-shirt.
Even after Huber Young's parents told him to leave the house, he continued to fight with his brother over text messages while attending a Sea Dogs game in Portland. He eventually returned to the house and fired shots through a locked glass door using his father's pistol, Walton wrote. His father told police it was taken without his knowledge.
The prosecution's case relies heavily on what Huber Young told police.
Superior Court Justice Richard Mulhern denied Bobrow's request to throw the confession out last fall, after Bobrow argued police violated his client's rights by not telling him during the interview that Octavia was dead.
Those arguments will likely still be a major part of Huber Young's defense.
A pre-trial hearing Thursday in York County Superior Court offered a glimpse at the breadth of material jurors will be asked to consider. There are texts messages, 911 calls, crime scene photographs of bullet holes and shell casings, and a three-hour video of Huber Young at the police station — most of which Bobrow said his client spends sitting quietly, handcuffed to a bench while waiting for police to meet with him.
"It's context, judge," said Bobrow, who asked the judge to allow him to play the entire video for the jury. Bobrow suggested his client can be seen struggling several times to get comfortable. "Certainly the jury is entitled to see ... what he was exposed to."
Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin argued that for the jury "to sit there and watch a silent picture of him on a bench, it just seems like that's a waste of judicial resources and the jury's time."
Bobrow implied during the hearing Thursday that prosecutors did not include all of the texts exchanged between Huber Young and his brother before the shooting, but Robbin said prosecutors already shared all of their evidence with Bobrow before trial.
"We don't know which additional texts Attorney Bobrow wants us to put in," Robbin told the judge. "What we think we have identified are all the relevant communications within the time period."
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