A funeral for the Stockton Springs girl who was allegedly beaten and abused for months by her mother and stepfather before she died will be held this weekend in New York state, where she lived for several years with her grandparents before moving to Maine.
Marissa Anne Kennedy, 10, will be laid to rest at 10 a.m. Saturday with a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Mary’s Church in Newburgh, New York.
Mike Brooks, who is handling funeral arrangements for the family on behalf of the Brooks Funeral Home in Newburgh, said Thursday that visiting hours will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Both visiting hours and the Mass will be open to the public.
“Marissa’s life may have been short, but she was truly loved by those who knew her,” her family wrote in her obituary. “She loved to swim, read, dance, build Legos, watch movies and attend car shows. Her smile would light up a room. She was the love of our lives.”
Julio Carrillo, 51, and Sharon Carrillo, 33, have been charged with depraved indifference murder in connection with Marissa’s death. She died Feb. 25 after police went to the family’s condominium in Stockton Springs and found her unresponsive. Police say the Carrillos staged her death to make it look like an accident.
A police affidavit alleges that the girl had been beaten daily by her parents since October. Near the end of her life, she could no longer walk or speak without slurring, the affidavit said.
The Carrillos are being held at the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset in lieu of $500,000 bail each. Julio Carrillo was assaulted last weekend by another inmate, an attack that remains under investigation, authorities said.
The abuse and neglect that led to Marissa’s death have prompted calls for an investigation into the Department of Health and Human Services’ Child Protective Services division and how it handled reports that she was in possible danger. DHHS is conducting an internal review of how the case was handled.
Bangor school officials said they reported suspected abuse and neglect to DHHS on several occasions. The family lived in Bangor before moving to Stockton Springs last year.
Gov. Paul LePage also weighed in, blaming child protective workers, school officials, police and legislators for failing to take steps to protect her.
“In this particular case it’s a comedy of errors, both at DHHS, CDS (Child Protective Services), the mandatory reporters from the schools, law enforcement. Everybody here messed it up,” LePage told News Center Maine (WCSH/WLBZ) in an interview.
Marissa lived in New York with her grandparents Roseann and Joe Kennedy for the first 7 and a half years of her life, according to News Center Maine. Joe Kennedy told the station he is Sharon Carrillo’s father.
“(Marissa) was more like a daughter than a granddaughter,” Kennedy told the reporter.
According to Marissa’s obituary, she was born on Oct. 29, 2007, in Middletown, New York. When she lived in New Windsor, New York, she attended Windsor Academy and New Windsor School.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Maine Children’s Trust Inc., 56 Leighton Road, Augusta, 04330, in memory of Marissa Kennedy. The organization’s Web address is www.mechildrenstrust.org. Its mission is to prevent the abuse and neglect of Maine’s children.
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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