3-year-old killed on Christmas, Maine police say. Now mom’s ex-boyfriend arrested

After a 3-year-old girl was killed on Christmas morning in Maine last year, nine months went by without an arrest, according to police.

Now, Tyler Witham-Jordan, 29, of Edgecomb, is charged with murder in the death of Makinzlee Handrahan, Maine State Police announced in an Oct. 6 news release.

Detectives arrested Witham-Jordan, the former boyfriend of Makinzlee’s mother, the morning of Oct. 6, according to police, who said he was dating Makinzlee’s mother when the girl died.

Information regarding Witham-Jordan’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available the evening of Oct. 6.

In April, before Witham-Jordan’s arrest, Makinzlee’s father Henry Handrahan told the Portland Press Herald his “daughter deserves justice” and that it he believes “it should be swifter.”

“My family wants answers and closure,” Handrahan said at the time, according to the newspaper.

Around 7:37 a.m. on Dec. 25, a 911 call came in about Makinzlee “not breathing” at a home in Edgecomb, according to a state police news release issued Dec. 26.

Witham-Jordan and Makinzlee’s mother were the only individuals “known to be in the home” Christmas morning, according to the Portland Press Herald.

After authorities responded to the 911 call, Makinzlee was taken to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead that day, police said.

An autopsy was performed on Dec. 26 and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the girl’s death a homicide — but her cause of death wasn’t specified, according to a police news release issued Dec. 28.

Makinzlee’s cause of death is still unclear and is “being withheld at this time,” police said Oct. 6.

Meanwhile, Witham-Jordan has been detained at the Two Bridges Jail in Wiscasset and is expected to appear in court next week, according to police.

Edgecomb is about 50 miles northeast of Portland.

This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 1:46 PM with the headline "3-year-old killed on Christmas, Maine police say. Now mom’s ex-boyfriend arrested."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.