On a summer evening in New Gloucester, Maine, the life of 28-year-old Trevor Mills, a Black / African American male, was cut short by an act of violence. On July 25, 2011, Mills and his friend, 27-year-old Renee Sandora, were shot outside of Sandora's mobile home on Bennett Road. Both victims were rushed to Central Maine Medical Center in grave condition.
Sandora succumbed to her injuries during the day on Tuesday, and Mills died later that same night.
The man suspected of the double homicide was 29-year-old Joel Hayden of New Bedford, Massachusetts, who was the father of Sandora's four children. The shooting was reportedly witnessed by the couple's 7-year-old son. A neighbor overheard the boy yelling "don't shoot" and then "don't leave" before a car sped away from the scene. Investigators learned that there was a history of domestic violence between Sandora and Hayden, and that she had recently kicked him out of the home. Hayden had allegedly accused Sandora of having a relationship with Mills.
Following the shooting, Hayden fled the scene in a Cadillac belonging to Sandora's mother. He led police on a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed the vehicle in Lyman. After being treated for a back injury sustained in the crash, Hayden was taken into police custody and charged with two counts of murder. He was subsequently arraigned and held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail. In a court appearance in September 2011, Joel Hayden pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.
