Parents and grandmother indicted for death of 10-year-old Bangor boy

Three people accused of killing a 10-year-old Bangor boy were indicted by a grand jury Wednesday.

The boy’s father, Joshua Smith, 33; mother, Jem Bean, 35; and grandmother, Mistie Latourette, 56, were indicted for depraved indifference murder by a grand jury in Penobscot County Superior Court. An indictment is when a grand jury finds there is probable cause for the case to move forward.

Braxtyn Smith, 10, died Feb. 18 after the adults allegedly engaged in conduct that did not value human life and led to his death.

A 15-page affidavit outlined the horrific abuse they allegedly inflicted on Braxtyn . The adults described to police how the 10-year-old was zip-tied — to chairs and his parents, forced to dig through the trash for food and called insulting names, according to the affidavit for probable cause compiled by the Bangor Police Department.

Braxtyn was homeschooled his whole life, the affidavit said. He also had a sibling, who is not identified in court records. A blindspot in homeschooling laws may have allowed the abuse to happen without anyone noticing, experts previously told the Bangor Daily News.

Little is publicly known about Braxtyn. He was never enrolled in Bangor schools, and his parents appeared to keep him out of the public eye. When a neighbor saw Braxtyn outside once, she assumed he was only visiting.

The physical abuse of Braxtyn started when he was 9, Bean told police.

Bean, Latourette and Smith are scheduled for a status conference hearing at 9 a.m., May 28, according to court records. All three are in the Penobscot County Jail with a $300,000 bail per person.