AUGUSTA — Appearing in court via video link from the jail next door, a Queens, New York, man was told by a judge Wednesday that he is charged with murdering an Augusta man.

Damik Davis, 25, was arrested Monday night after police found the body of Joseph G. Marceau, 31, in a fourth-floor apartment at 75 Washington St. in Augusta. Police have not said how Marceau was killed, and residents who were in the building Monday night say they heard no gunshots. Neither Davis nor Marceau apparently lived in the building.

On Wednesday, the state filed an affidavit in the Capital Judicial Center in support of Davis’ arrest, but Justice Robert Mullen granted a prosecution motion to keep it sealed.

Mullen told Davis he was charged with depraved indifference or intentional and knowing murder. A conviction carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Marceau’s mother, Deborah, and a number of family members sat in the courtroom.

After the hearing, she and her daughter issued a comment, saying, “On Monday we lost a dear member of our family, a son, brother, nephew, cousin and friend. Our hearts are breaking at this senseless tragedy. At this point we ask for privacy, and there will be no further comments from family during this very difficult time.”

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Davis said he would be seeking a court-appointed attorney, and Mullen said he provisionally would appoint attorneys Stephen Smith and Caleb Gannon, who were with Davis at the jail. Mullen ordered Davis held without bail.

Smith said Davis indicated he had learned some of the details of the crime only from Smith, who had read about it in the newspaper.

On Tuesday morning, three building residents said they heard a series of thuds from the fourth floor, some of which shook the light fixtures in the third-floor apartment of Timothy and Kelly Lane. The Lanes said they were concerned that it might be a domestic assault and called police about 8 p.m.

Building residents indicated Michael “Sean” McQuade, 45, and his girlfriend Zina Fritze (who also has used the last names LoPresti and McQuade), 27, lived in the apartment where the body was found.

Police said Wednesday night that they had located the couple, questioned them, and they had been released. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Marceau, formerly of Gardiner, was living most recently on Winthrop Street in Augusta.

He was convicted of theft and misuse of a public benefits instrument last December. He was most recently in the Capital Judicial Center on Nov. 16 and fined $100 for driving with an expired license.


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