A father is still waiting for justice for his 3-year-old daughter who died in Edgecomb on Christmas Day.
Makinzlee Handrahan’s death was ruled a homicide just three days after she died. Since then, police have yet to name a suspect or release her cause of death.
“My daughter deserves justice,” Henry Handrahan told the Portland Press Herald, speaking out for the first time since Makinzlee’s death. “And I believe it should be swifter.”
Police have declined to provide information on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
For her father, the lack of answers from investigators has been hard.
“My family wants answers and closure,” he told the Portland newspaper. “It’s not easy.”
Police received a 911 call on Christmas morning after Makinzlee was found unresponsive and not breathing. She was taken to Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, where she was pronounced dead.
Makinzlee’s mother and her former boyfriend were reportedly the only adults at the Route 1 home in Edgecomb.
Two days following Makinzlee’s death, her mother filed a protection from abuse order against her former boyfriend whom she described as “verbally, mentally, and physically abusive.”
In the order, which was approved on a temporary basis, the mother requested protection for herself and two other young boys in the home, writing that she was “scared for my life and my children.”
That order was dismissed by a Wiscasset judge at the mother’s request two weeks later, according to the Press Herald.
A second protection from abuse order was filed in December as well, this one by the father of the two boys in the home who are Makinzlee’s half brothers.
In that temporarily approved order, the father of the boys sought protection against their mother, writing that since Makinzlee’s death he is “very concerned for their safety” under her direct care.
Makinzlee’s death is being investigated by the Maine State Police, which is standard for all child deaths in the state.