BATH — Throughout hours of testimony on Wednesday, Chanda Lilly insisted that Tyon Shuron had killed Andrew Sherman in Richmond in September 2019.

“I do remember what I remember,” Lilly said more than once during her time on the stand this week. “I know what I know, and I saw what I saw.”

Lilly is testifying in Sagadahoc County Superior Court under an agreement she struck earlier this year. She initially had been charged with felony murder in Sherman’s death. But in March, four years after she was arrested, Lilly pleaded guilty to a robbery charge and agreed to testify against Shuron.

It’s the longest outstanding murder case in Maine.

On Tuesday, she recounted how she had met Sherman, a photographer, her secret relationship with Shuron, Shuron’s anger at her posing for provocative photos and finally, their fatal confrontation with him over those images on Sept. 29, 2019.

But Darrick Banda, who is representing Shuron at his murder trial, probed Lilly about the events she recounted — and her memory.

Under questioning by Banda, Lilly said she has schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, for which she takes prescribed medication and she has both short-term and long-term memory problems.

Banda asked whether it would be untrue if someone were to say she was not taking her medication during a recent hospitalization at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston.

“And if someone from St. Mary’s reported that you had recently used cocaine, do you remember telling them that at St. Mary’s?”

“What? No,” Lilly said. “Definitely not. I never use cocaine.”

That drew an objection from Jen Ackerman, assistant attorney general, and Justice Daniel Billings reminded the jury that statements and questions of counsel are not evidence.

“I did not use any cocaine at all, and did not admit or tell anyone I was using cocaine. That is not accurate information. It’s not true.”

When he showed her a document that indicated she had admitted drug use, Lilly said she had in the past, but she had not used drugs recently.

“Are you as sure about that as you are everything else you testified to to this jury?” he said.

“Yes, I am sure. I was there. I know what I know and I saw what I saw and I understand that, yes,” she said.

While people struggled to hear Lilly when she was testifying for the state, they had no trouble hearing her as she answered questions from Banda about the sequence of events, about details from the night of the murder and details during the investigation.

On Tuesday, the jury was dismissed while attorneys argued whether Lilly was capable and qualified to identify the author of notes that were found in Shuron’s cell at Twin Bridges Jail after their 2020 arrests on murder and other charges.

According to Lilly, those notes contained instructions from Shuron to Lilly to recant the account she had given to investigators on what happened the night Sherman was shot and killed and directing her to contact Shuron’s attorney, Ronald Bourget.

“I’m not sure exactly what it means, but he asked me to ask his lawyer if I can recant the statement I had made,” Lilly said.

Billings said there was enough for Lilly to offer testimony.

“I think the contest is more important here. I readily admit this is thin,” Billings said of Lilly’s description of how many notes she had received from Shuron. “Credibility is the province of the jury.”

On Wednesday, Banda pressed her about whether she recognized Shuron’s handwriting, based on the number of unsigned notes she said he left at her apartment and questioned her about notes found in Shuron’s cell.

He also highlighted instances where the accounts she gave in court did not match what she had told investigators before and after her arrest four years ago, playing audio clips of what she had said at the the time.

Under the terms of her plea deal, Lilly is required to testify truthfully, or she risks returning to prison. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison with all but four years suspended and four years of probation. She has completed her sentence.

The trial continues Thursday.

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