FORT KENT, Maine — Barbara Theriault does not trust Maine’s legal system when it comes to sentencing the man accused of killing her daughter last May.

So Theriault and her family are taking to social media and the streets to collect 5,000 signatures they hope will convince a judge to hand down a life sentence to Jesse Marquis, who was charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend Amy Theriault.

Barbara Theriault is not aware that any plea deal is in the works while Marquis awaits trial in the Aroostook County Jail, but she is concerned a settlement might occur to give him a minimum sentence.

Should Marquis go to trial and be found guilty, he faces a penalty of 25 years to life in prison. Maine does not have the death penalty.

Calls to the state attorney general’s office and to Marquis’ attorney were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Submitting a petition as part of a victims’ impact statement in Maine is not unheard of, according to James Burke, lawyer and clinical professor at the Maine School of Law.

He said that under Maine’s criminal code, victims and victims’ immediate family must be allowed to make oral or written statements at the time of sentencing. Those comments become part of the official court record.

“The criminal code then says the judge takes what the victims say into account,” Burke said Tuesday. “But the court has sentencing provisions they have to follow [and] those are complicated.”

When considering the sentence for murder in Maine, he said, a judge will look at the nature and seriousness of the offense, determine the maximum term of imprisonment based on aggravating and mitigating circumstances and determine what portion — if any — of that maximum sentence should be suspended.

“The maximum sentence is reserved for the worst of the worst [and] if the judge believes this guy is the worst of the worst, the sentence will be for the maximum,” Burke said. “If the guy is the best of the best, he should get near the minimum.”

The vast majority of those convicted fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, Burke said, and sentencing will reflect that.

Barbara Theriault wants to do all she can to influence that process.

“We are being proactive,” Barbara Theriault said Monday afternoon, sitting at a picnic table in Fort Kent’s Riverside Park, a stack of petitions in front of her. “We do not know if Jesse Marquis will take a plea deal or what is going to happen, but we wanted to be ready.”

Marquis was arrested June 6 after an intensive six-day manhunt ended with his capture in St. Francis, about a mile from Theriault’s home, where police had gone after a 911 call about a domestic violence incident at the home on May 31.

That day in May, Aroostook County sheriff’s deputies discovered the body of Amy Theriault and spoke to two witnesses who reported seeing Marquis leaving the residence and going into the woods behind the house with a rifle.

The state medical examiner ruled Theriault’s death a homicide and said she died of a gunshot wound to the chest and multiple stab wounds to the chest and neck.

Marquis pleaded not guilty during an arraignment last August in Caribou Superior Court.

A status hearing among attorneys and a judge is scheduled for June 19 at Houlton Superior Court, a court clerk said Tuesday.

Barbara Theriault’s petition seeks to have the court “incarcerate Jesse Marquis for the remainder of his life without the possibility of parole or early release from imprisonment.”

While gathering signatures at the park Monday, she said, “That is what we are asking for, a life for a life. He should spend the rest of his life in jail.”

Despite her wish, modern criminal sentencing does not work that way, Burke said.

The sentence, he said, must strike a balance between punitive measures and rehabilitation as far as that is possible.

“Will the family of a victim be happy?” Burke said. “I would doubt it, but the court does not look at just the victim; the court looks at all the different pieces to give the sentence context. That is the system under which we live.”

“The [Theriault] family is within their rights to make whatever presentation they wish to make to the court and the court has to listen,” Burke said. “But the court is not bound by it.”

Theriault hopes the petition will make a difference. She began gathering signatures over the weekend and collected 124 just Monday at Riverside Park. She wasn’t sure how many signatures had been gathered so far, however, because others also were circulating petitions.

“I have [petitions] floating around all over the place,” she said. “Friends and family have been calling me to get copies so they can take them around and the outpouring of support has been unbelievable.”

Among those stopping by to sign the petition was Rhonda Albert of Fort Kent.

“I’m a friend of the family,” Albert said. “I wanted to show my support and this is just so horrible and so sad.”

Lisa Pinette was another friend stopping by, saying Maine’s laws dealing with domestic abuse need to be strengthened to protect people like Amy Theriault.

Pinette said she was able to get out of a past abusive relationship and leave her abuser, who she said never faced any jail time or penalties for his actions.

“It makes me so sad to know this happened and that she was not able to get away from him,” Pinette said of Amy Theriault. “They need to hold these guys accountable before someone else gets killed.”

Barbara Theriault also wants to see Maine’s domestic abuse laws strengthened, noting Marquis previously had been charged with domestic assaults.

According to court records, Marquis was convicted June 21, 2013, on one count of assault in Fort Kent District Court.

He had initially been charged with two counts of domestic violence, but court records showed one count was dismissed and the second count amended to the assault charge.

The charges stemmed from an Aug. 11, 2011, incident in which Marquis attacked his former wife and her adult son after a night of drinking at an area bar.

“It is very important that these laws get changed,” said Pam Dubois, Amy Theriault’s sister. “When it comes to domestic violence, we need to make sure the penalty matches the crime.”

Amy Theriault’s two daughters, ages 8 and 13, were not home at the time of her death, and are living with family, Barbara Theriault said.

“It’s been so rough on them,” she said. “I’m afraid if Jesse gets a minimum sentence, he will be out [of jail] in their lifetime [and] I won’t be around to protect them.”

Theriault said she has been assigned a court advocate to help keep her informed as the case unfolds, but to date she said very little information has been released by the state.

Copies of the petition are available at Joe’s Country Store in St. Francis and Theriault said she plans to have them at the Top ‘O Maine Trade Show in Madawaska on April 25.

Barbara Theriault said she will present the signed petitions to the judge at the time of Marquis’ sentencing when she said family members also plan to make victim impact statements.

“Amy can’t speak for herself,” she said. “We have to be her voice now.”