A father who was accused of killing his infant daughter in 2020 will now be able to visit other children.
Trevor Averill pleaded not guilty in September to charges of depraved indifference murder and manslaughter in the death of his 2-month-old daughter, Harper Averill.
An Androscoggin County Superior Court judge this week granted a bail modification request from Averill, 28.
The terms of his bail dictated that he have no contact with children. But Justice Harold Stewart IIÂ granted a motion from Averill’s attorneys seeking to amend the conditions of his release on $25,000 bail on Monday.
The request was granted despite the objections of Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue. A similar motion filed in November was granted to permit Averill to spend Thanksgiving with relatives — which included minors.
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“Given the nature of the charges, the seriousness of the charges, we’re not in a position to be agreeable to the defendant having any contact with children,” Bogue informed the judge.
On July 22, 2020, the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an infant in medical distress from the Turner, Maine, home where Averill was living with Harper’s mother.
Deputies were unable to revive the unresponsive infant, who was flown to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where doctors pronounced her dead.
Harper died from a fractured skull and severe brain injuries associated with shaken baby syndrome, according to an autopsy. Medical examiners also found that the baby was still healing from a weeks-old rib fracture when she died.
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Stewart ruled that Averill could visit with relatives on Christmas Day, from noon to 3 p.m. which is one hour longer than he was allowed on Thanksgiving Day.
The judge said that during the visit, Averill will be allowed contact with three children. That being said, the contact must be supervised at all times by the parents of the children.
“I think we’ve carved out some safeguards that can allow for this to happen safely,” Stewart said, noting Averill’s Thanksgiving visit was uneventful.
Per the Sun Journal, Averill’s attorney, Jeffrey Wilson, stated in court how his client has a large extended family, and that he’s living in Buckfield with Harper’s mother while out on bail.
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