Sugarloaf Employee Charged With Murder After Co-Worker Fatally Shot

Austin Doucette, 24, a Sugarloaf Ski Resort employee, was charged with murder after his longtime girlfriend and co-worker, Makayla Rose Desantis, 23, of Colchester, Connecticut, was shot multiple times at the Left Bank condominium complex in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, and later died from her injuries.

The Franklin County Regional Communications Center received a 911 call reporting the shooting at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. First responders transported Desantis to MaineHealth Franklin Hospital in Farmington, and she was later transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she died. According to an affidavit viewed at the Farmington district courthouse, Desantis was shot multiple times, including in the chest.

A Franklin County sheriff's deputy pulled over Doucette after someone called 911 reporting two people driving toward the hospital in Farmington. Doucette was arrested in Kingfield at 10:48 p.m. Monday on a warrant issued out of Farmington District Court and taken to Franklin County Jail around 11 p.m. He is being held without bail. According to the Sun Journal, Doucette allegedly told police he "didn't mean to shoot" Desantis and said a .45-caliber handgun was at his condo. Police searched the unit and found three bullet casings. An investigator also removed a piece of sheetrock inside a neighboring Left Bank condo on March 9, 2026, searching for a bullet.

Doucette was scheduled to appear in Franklin County Superior Court in Farmington on Wednesday afternoon. The Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit is leading the investigation, with assistance from the Carrabassett Valley Police Department and Franklin County Sheriff's Office. State police said more details would be released "when it's appropriate to do so."

The Left Bank complex, situated off Route 27 along the Carrabassett River near Tufulio's Restaurant and Bar, is well known locally as employee housing. Sugarloaf owns several units there and rents them to staff. By late Tuesday morning, no visible signs of a police investigation remained at the complex, and no one answered at several nearby residences when a reporter knocked.

Sugarloaf Vice President of Marketing Jessica Sechler said the resort had no comment on the shooting. Several employees told reporters they had been directed not to speak to the media and referred to Sechler.

Desantis and Doucette were both originally from Connecticut. Her sister, Max Desantis, created a GoFundMe page to cover funeral expenses. "I never imagined I'd have her taken away from me this soon, or ever," Max Desantis wrote. "There's nothing I wouldn't do to have her back, Makayla did not deserve what happened to her."

Anyone in Maine experiencing domestic violence can reach a free, confidential advocate 24 hours a day by calling 866-834-4357 or TTY 1-800-437-1220.