A grand jury has indicted a South Portland man on six charges following a double murder in June in Westbrook.
Marcel A. LaGrange Jr., 24, is accused in the shooting deaths of Brittney Cockrell, 37 and Michael Hayter, 41, both of Westbrook. Police say the couple was shot to death in front of their children on Main Street around 8:30 p.m. June 19.
A 7-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy witnessed the shooting. Police say there’s no known connection between LaGrange, Cockrell and Hayter.
On Thursday, a Cumberland County grand jury returned indictments on two counts of intentional or knowing murder; one count of aggravated attempted murder; one count of aggravated assault; one count of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.
The indictment alleges that LaGrange shot at the 11-year-old boy and that he “intended to cause multiple deaths.”
Westbrook police responded to a report of shots fired near the intersection of Main and Bridge streets on June 19. When they arrived, they saw LaGrange shooting Cockrell near a vehicle in a parking lot off Bridge Street, according to Maine State Police.
Police chased LaGrange down Main Street toward Armory Apartments, where LaGrange allegedly assaulted Fred Roukey, 75, of Westbrook before being tackled and disarmed by several other bystanders.
Roukey was taken to Maine Medical Center with minor injuries, police said.
Hayter’s body was discovered inside the vehicle in the parking lot off Bridge Street, while Cockrell was outside the vehicle when she died, police said.
On June 21, LaGrange made his initial court appearance but was not asked to enter a plea. Neither the indictment nor the court’s information page lists a day for LaGrange’s next court appearance.