AUBURN — A Lewiston couple has been indicted on a single charge of aggravated assault in connection with the beating of 33-year-old Oumar Salahadine of Lewiston in May.

Last week, an Androscoggin County grand jury indicted Cody Hilliard, 19, and Melissa Brann, 31, who live together in a fourth-floor apartment at 197 Bartlett St. The felony charge is punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

On Tuesday, Brann pleaded not guilty. Hilliard has not yet entered a plea.

According to court records, on May 11 police were called to the couple’s apartment for a report of two men fighting, and that a man had been thrown down the stairs and was unconscious.

When police arrived, a tenant reported hearing an argument between Salahadine and others on the fourth floor, and had heard a girl scream and then a loud “thud” against a door.

Then, the tenant told police, she heard someone say “they thought he was dead,” and then a man and woman carried Salahadine out of the apartment and left him at the base of the stairs.

Lewiston officer Zachery Provost then knocked on the Hilliard-Brann door and Brann answered. She told police she had been sleeping and hadn’t heard anything, and gave Provost permission to search the apartment. When police entered, they saw Hilliard trying to get into the apartment through an open window, according to court records.

According to Provost’s sworn affidavit, Hilliard admitted he fought with Salahadine over unwanted sexual advances the man had made toward a woman Hilliard referred to as “YoYo.”

Police said Hilliard told them he forced Salahadine out of the apartment and then kicked him in the face, which caused Salahadine to fall down the stairs where Hilliard said he left him.

Police left the Bartlett Street apartment to interview Salahadine at Central Maine Medical Center, but the man had been transferred to the intensive care unit where he was intubated and unable to talk.

Police returned to Bartlett Street where they talked to another witness who saw Brann helping Hilliard throw Salahadine down the stairs, where he “bashed his head on the pavement.”

Brann and Hilliard were then both charged with aggravated assault. They were taken to the Androscoggin County Jail and each held on $100,000 cash bail.

The cash bail has since been reduced to $25,000 for Brann and $20,000 for Hilliard. Hilliard is under house arrest and not permitted to leave his apartment except for work and court-related appointments.

Hilliard has one prior conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence assault in 2013 and another domestic violence assault charge is pending; Brann has two prior convictions, both for misuse of identification in 2006. He served 30 days in jail on the domestic assault conviction and she was ordered to pay nearly $800 in restitution and fines.

Both defendants are next scheduled to appear in Androscoggin County Superior Court on Aug. 28. Hilliard is being represented by Donald Hornblower; Brann is represented by Jon Gale.

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