The written exchanges gave prosecutors a timeline of threats and punishment that extended long before Braxtyn Smith’s death.
BANGOR, Maine — Long before 10-year-old Braxtyn Smith arrived at a hospital without a pulse, adults in his home exchanged messages about hitting him, withholding food and securing his body with zip ties, according to evidence described in a Maine courtroom.
The messages became one of the clearest records of what prosecutors said occurred inside the Bangor home during the final two years of Braxtyn’s life. They formed part of the case against his father, Joshua Smith, who pleaded guilty to depraved-indifference murder June 11. They also supported prosecutions of the boy’s mother, Jem Bean, and grandmother, Mistie Latourette, both of whom pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were ordered to serve 10 years in prison. Smith is awaiting sentencing and could receive life in prison.
Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin described selections from the communications during Smith’s plea hearing in Penobscot County Superior Court. In one message to Latourette, Smith wrote that the tired child was going to be slapped and added that it “should be fun.” In another message written about two years before Braxtyn died, he threatened to kill the boy because he was angry over schoolwork. Prosecutors presented those words as evidence of a continuing pattern of hostility and violence rather than an isolated loss of control.
Other exchanges focused on restraint. Smith questioned Bean about why she had not used zip ties on everything she was supposed to secure. Bean answered that she had tied Braxtyn’s ankles to a tote and placed his hands together behind his back. The conversation supported prosecutors’ claim that more than one adult understood how the child was being confined. It also matched physical marks and other evidence documented after his death, according to the state’s account.
Smith challenged the prosecution’s interpretation of the messages even as he pleaded guilty. He told Justice Ann Murray that some statements had been taken out of context and that some were “sarcasm and stuff like that.” He also said he had not been trying to kill his son. Because he admitted murder before trial, jurors never had to decide how much weight to give those explanations. His plea established criminal responsibility for the murder charge and left only his sentence unresolved.
The digital evidence did not stand alone. Prosecutors said it aligned with medical findings, accounts from people who knew the household and statements made by the three defendants. Braxtyn was brought to a Bangor hospital on Feb. 18, 2024, by Bean and Latourette. He was not breathing and had no pulse. Hospital staff noted extensive bruising, signs of poor nutrition and other injuries. He weighed 48 pounds and died later that night after being transferred for additional treatment.
A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt-force trauma. Prosecutors said the boy had injuries of different ages, including internal head injuries, showing that he had been harmed repeatedly. They described his overall condition as the product of prolonged abuse and neglect. The evidence contradicted Bean’s early assertion that Braxtyn sometimes hurt himself by throwing his body to the floor during tantrums.
Investigators also learned that food had become part of the punishment system inside the home. The adults withheld meals, and Braxtyn ate dog food or searched through trash when he was hungry, according to court accounts. A hospital employee reported that material he vomited appeared and smelled like dry pet food. Prosecutors said the boy’s low weight and other medical findings were consistent with long-term deprivation, not a brief illness.
The restraints discussed in the messages were also described in the prosecution’s anticipated trial evidence. Braxtyn’s hands were tied behind his back, while one or both of his lower limbs were secured to a chair, storage tote or other object, according to court presentations and the police affidavit. Prosecutors said he was sometimes restrained while sleeping and was forced to spend nights on a bathroom floor or in a common room with only a blanket. Smith had removed his bedroom, leaving him without a normal place to sleep.
The written exchanges helped prosecutors show that the punishment was known within the household. Bean acknowledged using zip ties, and Latourette’s lawyer later acknowledged that she bought zip ties for Smith twice. Her attorney also said she had suggested withholding meals until the boy completed chores. The defense maintained that Latourette did not cause the death and could not reasonably have anticipated that those choices would end in a fatality.
Prosecutors offered a more serious view of Latourette’s role. They said she helped maintain the conditions in the home and took steps to hide visible evidence. According to the state, she made sure Braxtyn wore sunglasses in public to conceal bruising on his face. That allegation was important because it suggested awareness that an outsider might recognize the injuries as signs of abuse. Latourette ultimately pleaded guilty to manslaughter one day after Smith admitted murder.
Bean had resolved her case months earlier. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in February 2026 and was expected to testify if the other cases reached trial. Her plea acknowledged criminal responsibility for her role without requiring the state to prove murder. The agreement also gave prosecutors a possible witness who had lived in the home and participated in communications about the child’s treatment.
Smith’s plea came only days before his trial. He had first pleaded not guilty, then appeared in court seeking to change his plea to not criminally responsible because of insanity. He abandoned that position and pleaded guilty to murder. During the June 11 hearing, Murray asked him directly whether he was entering the plea because he was guilty. Smith said yes. His answer followed Robbin’s lengthy description of the evidence the state was prepared to present.
The next day, Latourette entered her manslaughter plea through an agreement with the Maine attorney general’s office. The agreement allowed prosecutors to recommend 25 years with all but 10 suspended. Bean faced a similar recommendation. In late June, Murray imposed sentences requiring both women to serve 10 years. The remaining portions of their 25-year terms were suspended, meaning they could face additional consequences if they violate conditions imposed after release.
At their sentencing, Murray focused on the sustained nature of Braxtyn’s suffering. The judge referred to starvation, dehydration, isolation, restraint and beatings carried out by those responsible for his safety. She said the abuse was “horrendous.” The court’s findings reflected not merely the events on the night he died but the accumulated conduct documented through messages, medical evidence and witness accounts.
Prosecutors said Braxtyn’s homeschooling helped keep the abuse out of view. Bean and Latourette were responsible for his education, and he did not have the routine contact with teachers and school personnel that children in traditional classrooms generally have. The state has not publicly established whether any single missed opportunity would have prevented his death. Still, the lack of regular outside observation helped explain how the physical decline described in the evidence continued for so long.
The guilty pleas brought an end to the question of whether the three adults would stand trial, but they limited the amount of evidence tested in open court. No jury heard the full collection of messages, and witnesses did not undergo cross-examination about every alleged episode. The plea hearings and sentencing proceedings nevertheless placed key portions of the record before a judge and established that each defendant accepted criminal responsibility for a role in Braxtyn’s death.
Smith remains at the Penobscot County Jail. His sentencing, expected in September, will determine whether he receives the 25-year minimum for murder or a longer term, potentially life. Until that hearing, the messages that helped define the prosecution’s case remain part of a record whose central facts Smith no longer contests through a not-guilty plea.
Author note: Last updated July 13, 2026.