Jessica Williams (Waldo County) and Maddox Williams (GoFundMe)
A 37-year-old mother in Maine who was previously sentenced to nearly a half-century behind bars for killing her 3-year-old son will be appearing in court on Wednesday to appeal her conviction and prison sentence. Jessica Williams, also known as Jessica Trefethen, in December 2022 was convicted of depraved indifference murder in the slaying of young Maddox Williams. Maine Superior Justice Robert E. Murray subsequently sentenced her to 47 years in a state correctional facility.
Williams then appealed her case to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Court records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Williams is basing her appeal on three issues:
(1) the trial court should have granted her motion for judgment of acquittal because the State failed to present adequate evidence that she caused the child’s fatal injuries,
(2) the court erred in admitting evidence that she had previously “thrown” the child to the floor, and
(3) the court should have ordered a new trial because the prosecutor erroneously elicited testimony that Williams declined to speak with police after the child’s death and argued that her silence was evidence of consciousness of guilt. She further argues that these trial errors, taken together, deprived her of due process.
Maddox’s death
Trefethen, who has four other children, was arrested last summer after bringing Maddox to the Waldo County General Hospital where doctors found that he was suffering from a fractured spine, bleeding in his brain, a ruptured bowel, and extensive bruising on his head, stomach, arms, and legs, among other injuries, Law&Crime previously reported. Several of the bruises and bumps on his body had been covered with fake temporary tattoos.
Authorities were unable to locate Trefethen for several days following Maddox’s death. She had left the hospital after he was pronounced dead and was hiding at her mother’s house. She told her mother to tell police that her mother had dropped her off elsewhere.
When she was taken into custody on June 23, 2021, at her mother’s house, she told police that she had no idea how her son came to suffer such horrendous injuries, though she did say that Maddox “bruised very easily and her kids play wild and crazy.”
Tuesday’s hearing
The oral arguments began with Williams’ attorney, Rory A. McNamara, emphasizing that there was “no evidence whatsoever” that Williams was present when her son suffered his fatal injuries.
“There are other mechanisms that could have been at play here,” McNamara told the justices.
McNamara also insinuated that Williams’ boyfriend could have inflicted the fatal injuries on Maddox and suggested that the totality of the injuries he suffered could have come from one or several non-human sources, such as Maddox being run over by an electric children’s car and/or falling off of a trampoline.
“The problem here is there is no proof that mom was with the decedent when the fatal injuries were inflicted,” he said. “We have another adult on the property who was known to play with children and had the most acrimonious relationship with the children.”
It was not immediately clear if the other adult was Williams’ boyfriend or Williams’ mother.
The next issue the court addressed was whether the trial court erred in allowing testimonial evidence that Williams had previously “thrown” Maddox out of a bathroom and onto a hard floor.
McNamara argued that the trial court should not have allowed that evidence into the trial because it allowed the jury to infer that Williams was responsible for subsequent injuries to the child.
“Prior bad acts are admissible for certain purposes, including relationship between the parties,” one of the justices said. He added that such bad acts can be used several things about the parties involved, including “how did they interact” and “what went on between these people.”
“Here it shows [Williams] rejected her child for resembling his father and at one point threw him out of a bathroom,” he said. “It shows the relationship between the two was not warm and cuddly but hostile.”
The justices also emphasized that the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Maddox testified that the boy had both old and new injuries, indicating a pattern of child abuse.
Assistant District Attorney Donald W. Macomber argued that the case against Williams was relatively cut-and-dry, and that jurors were within their right to reject her claim that she wasn’t present when Maddox was fatally injured.
“The only other adults were they boyfriend and grandmother, both of whom the mom described as excellent caregivers,” Macomber said. “The jury could rationally look at what Williams said, along with the medical examiner’s testimony, and conclude that she was responsible [for killing Maddox].”
The final issue on appeal was whether Williams fled from police and whether that could be used against her.
Williams’ mother testified at court that Williams said she didn’t want to speak to the police. McNamara argued that this was nothing more than Williams exercising her right to remain silent, because from her perspective, she did not commit a crime. He argued that Williams’ silence could not be used as evidence of “consciousness of guilt.”
The justices questioned whether leaving a hospital moments after her son’s death and tasking her mother with lying to police about her whereabouts could realistically be construed as simply “remaining silent.”
The justices said they will publish a written opinion deciding the case in the near future.
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