A Biddeford woman charged with attempted murder is back in Maine after spending almost a month in jail on Rikers Island in New York City.
Ariana Tito, 18, was arrested in Brooklyn on Dec. 1 in connection with a shooting in Saco on Nov. 28. She is accused of shooting and injuring Kayla Grant, 32, at an apartment in Saco, the same apartment where a man was arrested the day before after a deadly shooting in Biddeford.
Maine State Police detectives traveled to New York and brought Tito back to Maine on Dec. 27, according to a state police spokesperson. Grant is still recovering from her injuries, state police said. They wouldn’t say whether she was still hospitalized.
Tito made her first appearance in York County Superior Court on Friday and was appointed an attorney, Darius Wadia. Tito has not yet been indicted and did not have to enter a plea.
“If she is indicted, Ms. Tito will enter a plea of not guilty,” Wadia said in an email Wednesday. He declined to answer other questions about her case.
In the meantime, questions remain unanswered about how police connected Tito to the shooting, and whether it’s connected to the death in Biddeford.
An affidavit for Tito’s arrest, which could provide some answers, was still impounded Wednesday.
Police have said Grant was shot at 103 Temple St. – the same address where Tito’s brother, Lorenze Labonte was arrested a day earlier. He is accused of killing Ahmed Sharif in a shooting in Biddeford on Nov. 24.
Investigators have refused to say whether the two shootings were related. Wadia did not answer questions about it Wednesday.
An affidavit for Labonte’s arrest also remains under seal to the public. Labonte himself was barred from viewing or even discussing the document with his defense attorneys until Dec. 5.
York County Superior Court Justice James Martemucci had not decided as of Wednesday whether to continue holding Labonte without bail.
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