She had a love of learning and had plans to continue her education. Liggett worked for Unit 80 school district. Liggett more recently participated in her church hand bell choir. While at the University of Illinois, she participated with the Marching Illini at home football games. Liggett received a music scholarship to attend the University of Illinois. In high school she and the marching band went to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Liggett had a passion for her church and for music. She was preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, one brother and a nephew. Liggett is survived by her daughter, her oldest brother, her ex husband, and many other family and friends whom she loved and were the center of her world. She was born Dec 8, 1973, to Garnet Dean and Betty Jean Liggett in Urbana. Vernon and formally Mahomet, died on Saturday, April 29, 2023, in Mt. The hearing before District Court Judge Andrew Benson is scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. “She was my baby,” a weeping McLaughlin said to Ferreira in the recording.īoth Rebecca McLaughlin and Grant’s mother, Melissa, said in audio recordings played in court that the teens were sweet people who appeared to have a loving relationship. Rebecca McLaughlin said she went into the kitchen, saw a knife on the kitchen table, threw it in the sink, yelled for Brooke and then discovered her daughter’s body, which was face down on the living room floor. She said in the recording she discovered vomit in the bathtub and thought it was her daughter who had vomited. with a birthday cake for Grant, finding the door unlocked, which was unusual, and putting the cake down to go to the bathroom. Rebecca McLaughlin recalled coming home after 6 p.m. Sibley played a recording in which McLaughlin’s mother, Rebecca McLaughlin, was interviewed by state police Deputy Cpl. He described the death the result of “sharp force injuries.”ĭespite Grant’s claiming at one point the stabbing occurred in the bedroom, testimony showed there was a lot of blood in the living room, on the couch, a chair and the carpeting, as well as splatters on other items, including a cat litter box and shelf. On Wednesday, Sibley questioned Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Liam Funte, who described the stab wounds on McLaughlin’s body, including to her neck, chest, back, head and hands. Although he told her that was not the case, she would still threaten suicide. Grant told officials that McLaughlin became volatile when she was off her medications, and would obsess about the possibility he would leave her. They were mostly home alone with little adult supervision and cooked their own simple meals. His defense lawyer painted a picture of a boy who was in a sexual relationship with a young girl and neither of them had the emotional tools to deal with adult behaviors. Pelletier said Grant was remorseful for what he had done. Grant later confessed to a supervisor at Long Creek that he had stabbed McLaughlin with a knife in their bedroom after a dispute about their prior relationships, according to testimony. Sibley also produced police photographs and audio recordings of interviews officials had with family members of both teenagers.Īccording to testimony, Grant initially told his family and police he and McLaughlin were alone at her home, where he had been staying for three or four months, and that he saw a man enter the home with something in his hand, causing Grant to panic and leave. It was the second day of testimony at Waterville District Court to determine if Grant, now 16, will be tried in adult court in the death of McLaughlin or remain at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland until he is 21.Īssistant Attorney General Katie Sibley called to the stand numerous law enforcement officials who worked on the case, asking them about interviews they conducted and evidence that was collected after the July 18, 2022, killing at McLaughlin’s Mount Vernon mobile home.

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