HOULTON – The arraignment of a Caribou man who allegedly beat to death his supervisor at a local Tim Hortons restaurant was halted late Friday afternoon when the attorney representing him was forced to withdraw from the case.

Christopher Shumway, 19, was scheduled to be arraigned in Aroostook County Superior Court on charges of gross sexual assault, robbery and murder. He was expected to enter a plea to the charges at that time.

Shumway allegedly killed Erin Sperrey, 20, of Presque Isle while they both worked the night shift on Jan. 2 at the Caribou restaurant.

He reportedly beat Sperrey with his hands and feet, strangled her and left her to die in an employee restroom while he waited on customers. The state medical examiner’s office determined through an autopsy that Sperrey died of “multiple traumatic injuries.”

The 19-year-old admitted in a court affidavit to taking the cash box from the restaurant, and an employee verified that about $1,200 in currency and rolled coins was missing from the employee office.

The media have received no information about the gross sexual assault charge, and Aroostook County District Attorney Neale Adams could not comment on the matter Friday.

Officials with the Attorney General’s Office asked the District Attorney’s Office to stand in for them at the arraignment.

Shumway’s attorney, Stephen Smith of Bangor, told Justice E. Allen Hunter during court proceedings that Shumway had decided not to go forward with his arraignment and added that he needed to withdraw from the case.

He offered no reason for the withdrawal and left the courtroom without comment. Hunter said that he would continue Shumway’s arraignment “on a day-to-day basis” until a new attorney could be found to represent him.

Adams said after the proceedings that Smith was representing Shumway and another client who was incarcerated at the Aroostook County Jail, and the conflict is related to that situation.

Shumway sat shackled in the courtroom with his head down, never raising his eyes.

A large contingent of Sperrey’s family also was in court, including her mother, Johna Lovely, and sister, Amanda McKnight. They left after the arraignment was halted. During an impromptu press conference outside the facility, Lovely expressed frustration about the tedious pace of the proceeding.

She said that she found it unbelievable that taxpayers were footing the bill to feed and clothe Shumway in jail while the case dragged on.

“I can’t feed and clothe my daughter,” Lovely said, wearing a purple bracelet with her daughter Erin’s name on it.

She acknowledged that she was “very angry” as she looked at Erin’s alleged killer Friday.

“The criminals have all the rights,” she said. “Erin has no rights … Her rights were taken away and now we are giving all of these rights to Shumway.”

Lovely said that she plans to “make some noise” in the community about the issue, along with continuing to garner additional support for “Erin’s Fund,” which was created to implement security systems and procedures in workplaces where young people are employed.