A York County judge is considering whether to continue denying bail to a 19-year-old Wells man facing a murder charge in the shooting death of his young niece, basing the decision on whether there is probable cause the defendant intended to kill someone when he shot three family members.

Andrew Huber Young was charged with murder on May 22, a day after police say he shot his brother, father and nearly 2-year-old niece, who later died from the wounds.

Huber Young has been at the York County Jail since then. He pleaded not guilty this month to one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.

Judges in Maine can only withhold bail if they determine there’s probable cause that a defendant committed a capital offense, or one formerly punishable by the death penalty, which Maine abolished for all crimes in 1887.

In Huber Young’s case, York County Superior Court Justice Richard Mulhern must determine whether there’s probable cause that he shot at his family with the intention of killing someone.

Meg Elam, the assistant attorney general prosecuting Huber Young’s case, argued Friday that Huber Young killed his niece, Octavia, while intending to kill his brother and Octavia’s father, Ethan.

However, David Bobrow, Huber Young’s defense attorney, encouraged the judge to consider the 19-year-old’s several admissions to police that he had no intention of killing anyone.

Huber Young admitted to pulling the trigger in an interview with detectives after the shooting, Maine State Police say. He told them he was aiming for Ethan Huber Young’s chest, but that he didn’t intend to kill him. Instead he “wanted Ethan’s respect” and “said he has an anger-control problem.” At one point in the interview, Huber Young asked police “Is everyone OK? Are they still alive?” according to a transcript of the interview with police that was referenced during the hearing.

“As some of the testimony established today, this was a terribly tragic event, the result of which was absolutely not intended by 19-year-old Andrew,” Bobrow said during a brief call after the hearing.

Huber Young had been thrown out of the house by his parents on May 21 after he and his brother Ethan had gotten in a fight over a T-shirt belonging to Huber Young that Ethan was wearing, the police affidavit states.

Conner Walton, the Maine State Police detective who wrote the affidavit, took the stand Friday afternoon.

DISPUTE OVER A T-SHIRT

Walton told the court Friday that he believes – based on interviews with other officers – that Huber Young’s argument over the T-shirt began early in the day. His mother, Candace, took his phone and then left with his father, Ethan and Octavia for a few hours.

Around 1:30 p.m., Huber Young left the house to watch a Sea Dogs game with his girlfriend. When he returned from the game by himself, he parked by a church near the house.

“Based on all the interviews,” Walton said, Huber Young went inside the home and began destroying Ethan’s things.

Their father, Mark, walked Huber Young outside to his car in the church parking lot. He gave Huber Young his cellphone but took away his house keys and asked Huber Young to leave.

This is when Huber Young said that his brother began texting him threats of destroying Huber Young’s hamster cage inside the house, Walton said. State police are still waiting for cellphone data to confirm this. In Walton’s affidavit, he wrote that police found a smashed hamster cage after the shooting.

Huber Young then went into the trunk of his car, took out the gun, and standing outside the front door of his family’s house fired the gun four times, according to audio from a neighbor’s camera that Walton listened to.

Around 4:28 p.m., Huber Young drove to the Wells police station, walked into the lobby and used the station’s phone to tell a dispatcher, “I (expletive) up and accidentally shot at my (expletive) family.”

Many of Bobrow’s questions to Walton focused on the gun used in the shooting. In statements to police, Huber Young’s father said he believed the firearm was an old Ruger MK II that he had discarded in the woods last fall.

ACCURACY OF GUN QUESTIONED

Huber Young told police that the gun was old and had poor accuracy.

Walton told the court that he had not been able to see or physically examine the firearm because it was still with the state crime lab Friday. He couldn’t confirm the model other than what he’s seen in pictures, nor could he say whether there had been alterations or extensions added to the gun that would affect its firing capability.

Bobrow also asked Walton about the shooting itself. According to interviews, Ethan was not actually hit in the chest; he was hit in the back, looking away from where Huber Young was standing on the other side of a locked front door. He was holding his daughter, Octavia, at the time.

“That somebody could be shot in the left shoulder implies they were shot while they were standing away from the individual,” Bobrow said in court. “We have to remember my client never stated he wanted to harm Octavia.”

Walton said Maine State Police are still waiting to receive Ethan’s medical records.

Elam focused on the shooting itself.

Huber Young was able to see the family inside, through a window in the top half of the front door, Walton said. Reviewing a 37-paged transcript from Huber Young’s interview with police, Walton said that Huber Young mentioned waiting to see his mother duck before firing. Ethan was behind her.

“I watched her duck, so I was like, ‘Ok, I’m good.’ And I just (expletive) fired,” Huber Young said according to the transcript of his interview with police.

“It’s clear he made a conscious decision not to fire the gun, not when his mother was in the line of fire, but when his brother was in the line of fire,” Elam said Friday. “‘He’s clearly making intentional choices about when and against whom he chooses to fire the gun.”

FAMILY ATTENDS HEARING

Mulhern said Friday that he hopes to make a decision on Huber Young’s bail within the next two weeks.

Huber Young’s family attended Friday’s hearing. So did Samantha and Debbie Higgins, mother and grandmother to Octavia Jean Huber-Young, who would’ve turned 2 years old on July 13.

“Over a T-shirt? A hamster?” Debbie Higgins said tearfully to reporters outside the courthouse, Samantha standing behind her. Higgins was carrying several printed photos of Octavia and her 5-year-old sister. “Come on, people. You don’t take a gun out. You don’t.”

Debbie Higgins said at this time, they’re hoping Mulhern decides to continue withholding bail and that Huber Young is found guilty.

“I’ve been asking all day, ‘Why didn’t someone pick up the phone and call me? They were fighting all day. Why didn’t someone call me?'” Higgins said. “I would’ve been there in a heartbeat.”

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