Inset, left to right: Deven Young (Facebook/Law&Crime/YouTube), Sunshine Stewart (Stewart family). Background: Crawford Pond in Union, Maine, is seen Wednesday, July 9, 2025 (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty).
New revelations have surfaced regarding the teenage suspect allegedly responsible for the death of a paddleboarder in Maine last summer, a case that has captured widespread national interest.
Deven Young was 17 years old when he was arrested on July 16, 2025, and charged with the murder of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart. The Maine Attorney General”s Office has sought to try Young, now 18 years old, as an adult, recognizing that, as Law&Crime’s “On the Case” with Chris Stewart previously laid out, if he is charged as a juvenile, he would likely be released from police custody in just a few years at the age of 21.
According to Maine law, if the suspect is tried and convicted as an adult for murder, the potential sentence ranges from 25 years to life imprisonment.
The incident unfolded on July 2, 2025, when Stewart, who was camping in Union, Maine, failed to return from a paddleboarding trip on Crawford Pond. After she was reported missing, authorities discovered her body on an island in the center of the pond, classifying her death as a homicide.
Investigations revealed that Stewart died from strangulation and blunt force trauma, as confirmed by Maine State Police in a press release issued at the time.
The suspect, Young, was vacationing with his family at Mic Mac Cove Campground, the same site where Stewart was staying. Authorities noted that he reportedly took his small fishing boat onto Crawford Pond less than an hour before Sunshine Stewart went paddleboarding.
During the investigation, Young allegedly became involved in the case. Katharine Lunt, the campground owner, stated that the suspect “volunteered” his assistance to the investigators.
“He said he had some information — and he took them in the opposite direction of where Sunny was found,” Lunt told Portland, Maine-based ABC affiliate WMTW.
As Law&Crime previously reported, authorities felt their suspect was likely in the area, given that the land was largely private and rural. And as investigators searched for clues, Young allegedly feigned ignorance and innocence for two weeks until he was arrested on July 16, 2025.
“The fact that this individual was in this campground for two weeks is haunting,” Lunt said. “He was not on anyone’s radar. That whole week, he was offering campers help with different tasks they were doing. He acted like nothing ever happened.”
“Nobody was looking for a child,” she added. “We were looking for an adult.”
Now, recently unsealed records about Young’s past further illuminate the details surrounding the case. After the Midcoast Villager appealed a Waldo County court’s decision to seal records concerning police calls to Young’s home in Frankfort, Maine, and won, a Waldo County Sheriff’s Office report from January 2023 was released.
Its details, reported by the paper’s Stephen Betts, add a whole new dimension to a case that the reporter told Law&Crime’s “On The Case” was the “most unusual” one he had dealt with in 44 years.
Sometime around Jan. 4, 2023, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services told the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office that Young had been given a black eye by an adult, according to the report. A deputy responded to Young’s school to talk to him about it, but he was reportedly reticent, not offering up information and becoming disruptive in the school.
A redacted name in the report also reviewed by the Portland Press Herald warned the officer that Young was big, and they were afraid he could get angry.
That same day, the deputy went to Young’s home, where another person, whose name was also redacted, reportedly said Young “has bad spells if his medication is not on board.” While this person and the teen were outside their home, the suspect allegedly began swearing and throwing objects. “When he gets mad, he just freaks out,” the person told authorities.
As the Villager reported: “The unnamed person said every room in the house has holes in the walls from Young punching them. The person also said Young will break things if he doesn’t get his way.”
They allegedly admitted to slapping the teen.
The officer continued to investigate and learned that another person said Young attacked her a few months earlier, leaving her with a bloody and bruised face. She reportedly showed authorities a photo of her injuries and said Young would hurt her if they weren’t getting along.
According to the report, the woman said Young suffered from ADHD and defiance disorder, and he had spent time at a psychiatric hospital in Bangor, Maine.
It is unclear when the court will make a decision about whether Young can be tried as an adult.
Union is a small town of about 2,300 people located in southern Maine about 15 miles from the coast.
