Skowhegan baby death case in investigation phase

SKOWHEGAN – The manslaughter case against Mika Mitchell, accused of killing his infant daughter last month, is progressing and is now in the discovery phase, state Deputy Attorney General William Stokes said Tuesday.

Discovery is the pretrial phase in which both the prosecution and the defense may request documents and other evidence from other parties or compel the production of evidence or depositions by using a subpoena.

Stokes said no court date has been set and Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson has been assigned the case. “These cases are particularly difficult to deal with, for all of us,” Stokes said. The case eventually will be heard in Somerset County Superior Court.

Mitchell was charged with manslaughter after his daughter, 5-week-old Pandora Mitchell, died three days after being taken to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan with a black eye and bruising on her cheeks, buttocks and forehead that resembled fingers. The infant was taken to RFGH on March 3, then flown by LifeFlight air ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor where she died on March 6 after being taken off life support.

Mika Mitchell, 23, was arrested the next day. The baby lived with her father and mother, Tasha Lewis, 18, in Skowhegan.

According to court documents, the infant’s injuries were obvious and suspicious enough that hospital personnel contacted authorities because they suspected abuse. The state medical examiner’s office has determined the cause of the baby’s death to be homicide.

The court affidavit states that Mitchell called for help in the late afternoon when his daughter began having difficulty breathing. At the time, according to the document, Lewis had gone shopping with her mother and brother at a local store. Mitchell told police that he noticed his daughter wheezing and choking. When Lewis arrived home about 15 minutes later, she found that her daughter was limp and her mouth and tongue were swollen, Lewis told police.

Mitchell, who has a previous domestic assault conviction involving a former girlfriend, remains in Somerset County Jail because of a probation violation based on the alleged new criminal conduct.

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