Maliyah Powell, 22, was shot and killed in Lewiston, Maine, in the early hours of Friday, March 20, 2026. Police say a 911 call reporting a shooting on Union Street came in at about 1:26 a.m.; officers found Powell with a gunshot wound and she was taken to Central Maine Medical Center, where she died. The death has been ruled a homicide.

Maine State Police detectives and evidence response technicians assisted Lewiston Police and processed the scene. Investigators say the shooting followed a verbal altercation that escalated into a physical fight. Authorities arrested 25-year-old Elise Bergeron of Lewiston and charged her with murder; Bergeron was held at the Androscoggin County Jail without bail. The investigation is ongoing and police are asking anyone with information to come forward.

Powell was a 2024 graduate of Wayfinder Schools, remembered by school officials as a bright, compassionate young woman who planned to study social work and whose graduation project helped secure donations for Lewiston’s unhoused population. Does anyone have information about Powell, the incident on Union Street, or witnesses from that night?