A Carrabassett Valley man accused of fatally shooting his partner at a condominium near Maine’s largest ski resort has been charged with murder, Maine State Police said.
Austin Doucette, 24, was arrested Monday evening and charged in the death of Makayla Rose DeSantis, 23, who is from Colchester, Connecticut, state police said in a press release late Monday.
Doucette and DeSantis were a couple, Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said.
State police arrested Doucette in Kingfield before taking him to the Franklin County Jail around 11 p.m. Monday, jail records show. He is being held there without bail, according to a corrections officer.
Doucette is scheduled to appear in Franklin County Superior Court in Farmington on Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting was reported around 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Left Bank condominium complex, located along the Carrabassett River and near Tufulio’s Restaurant and Bar.
DeSantis was shot multiple times, including in the chest, according to a copy of an affidavit viewed at the district courthouse in Farmington.
The document says that a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy pulled over Doucette after someone called 911 saying two people were driving toward the hospital in Farmington. Doucette was taken into custody; it’s not clear if DeSantis was in the car or found elsewhere.
Doucette allegedly told police that he didn’t mean to shoot DeSantis and that the gun — a .45-caliber handgun — was at his condo. Police searched the condo, where they found three bullet casings.
The small Franklin County town of Carrabassett Valley is home to Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine’s second-highest peak, and a ski resort that bears the same name.
The Left Bank complex is known in the area as a popular home for Sugarloaf employees. There were no visible signs of a police investigation at the complex late Tuesday morning, and no one answered at several nearby residences when a reporter knocked.
Sugarloaf Vice President of Marketing Jessica Sechler said Tuesday that the resort had no comment on the shooting. Several resort employees said they had been directed not to talk to the media and referred a reporter to Sechler.
Maine State Police said Monday night that the investigation is ongoing and that more details will be released “when it’s appropriate to do so.”
Staff Writer Quentin Blais contributed to this report.
HOW TO GET HELP
IF YOU or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, you can call the statewide Domestic Abuse Helpline at 866-834-4357 to talk to someone who can help. You can learn more online here.
IF YOU or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, you can call the statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 800-871-7741 to talk to someone who can help. You can learn more online here.
FOR ASSISTANCE during a mental health crisis, call or text 888-568-1112. To call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call 988 or chat online at 988lifeline.org.
FOR OTHER support or referrals, call the NAMI Maine Help Line at 800-464-5767 or email [email protected].
