MAYA Millete’s family have been left demoralized and angered by yet another delay to her accused-killer husband’s trial following a hearing this week, her sister told The U.S. Sun.
Larry Millete, 42, appeared in court on Tuesday where a judge agreed to delay his trial for the first-degree murder of his missing wife, Maya, for a fifth time.
Maya’s remains have never been found, but prosecutors believe Larry murdered the mom-of-three in a rage after learning she was planning to divorce him.
Larry’s trial had been slated to commence on August 26 but will now be postponed until at least January 6, 2025 – almost four years to the day that Maya was last seen alive.
The delay was made at the request of Larry’s defense lawyer, Colby Ryan, who informed the judge his co-counsel, Liann Sabatini, had suffered two deaths in her family in the past month, impacting their preparation for the trial.
Maya’s sister, Maricris Drouaillet, told The U.S. Sun she and her family have been left deflated by the ruling but remain hopeful that justice will eventually prevail.
“It’s incredibly disheartening and frustrating to experience yet another delay in achieving justice for my sister,” said Maricris on Wednesday night.
“However, I’m grateful for the support and encouragement from the District Attorney, who has been instrumental in urging us to maintain faith in the justice system.”
Larry has been in custody since October 2021.
In an earlier interview, before Tuesday’s delay, Maricris revealed the wait for Larry’s trial had already been excruciating for her and her family for several reasons.
Although determined to get justice for her sister, Maricris described the trial as a lose-lose situation, the outcome of which will be “sad either way.”
“Nothing will bring my sister back,” said Maricris. “[And Larry] was our family for 20 years and we loved him, we grew up together,” Maricris said in late January.
“No matter the outcome of the trial it’s still going to be very sad for us because we have our nieces and a nephew who are going to be affected too […] It’ll be like losing a family member all over again.”
Maya was last seen alive in the late afternoon of January 7, 2021, returning home from work in Chula Vista, California.
Her last known communication came at 8:15pm when she shared an ad for a toy hauler with her family in a Facebook message. All phone activity for her then ceased at 1:25am.
Earlier on Jan. 7, Maya had consulted with a divorce attorney about starting the process of separating from Larry.
The couple had been having marital issues for some months and Maya was engaged in an affair with one of her coworkers.
Police would later discover that Larry had been purchasing voodoo spells online in the month preceding Maya’s disappearance in a desperate bid to save their marriage, asking spellcasters to make her fall back in love with him and “incapacitate her enough so she can’t leave the house.”
Maya was reported missing by her sister on January 9, 2021, after 48 hours passed without any contact from the usually communicative 39-year-old.
The next day was her daughter’s birthday party, and still, there was no sign of Maya.
It was at that point that Maricris said she knew something was gravely wrong.
“That’s when the panic really hit us that something really, really bad had happened,” shared Maricris.
“It didn’t feel real. I was in La La Land and the world just shut down for us.
“Everything was turned completely upside down.”
MYSTERIOUS CASE
Days, weeks, and months would pass without answers.
Larry was the last person to see and speak to Maya.
He admitted the couple had an argument on the day she vanished but denied any involvement in her death.
Maricris said her family gave Larry the benefit of the doubt, never seeing him as someone capable of committing a violent act.
All the while, he declined to participate in any of the local community searches for Maya and displayed indifference and a lack of concern about her safety or whereabouts, Maricris said.
“Larry didn’t seem bothered at all,” she claimed.
“I didn’t think much of it and I wasn’t worried about Larry or what he was doing. I was just panicking and focusing on trying to find my sister, while all these possibilities were running through my mind of where she could be.
“We were busy out searching in the neighborhoods, in parks. Larry didn’t help us, but I wasn’t focused on him.”
If he goes to jail, I don’t even care. We just want answers.
Maricris Drouaillet
The Chula Vista Police Department raided the Millete home on Jan. 23, 2021, and seized an arsenal of weapons belonging to Larry.
Larry retained a lawyer a week later and stopped cooperating with police.
Surveillance footage from a neighbor’s home showed the Millete children playing outside in their backyard at around 10pm on the night Maya vanished.
During a subsequent court hearing, CVPD Detective Jesse Vicente testified that it seemed unusual for the children to be out at that time because it was late and cold.
Then at 5:59 am the following morning, Larry was seen on camera walking out of the home and backing up his car into the garage.
At 6:46 am he was seen leaving the home with one of his youngest children. He switched off his cell phone and didn’t return home until 6 pm that night.
LARRY’S DENIALS
According to Vicente, Larry would later tell police he’d backed up his car to load ice chests into the trunk that he had packed for him and his son to go to the beach.
He also admitted to arguing with Maya on Jan. 7 but claimed she had been slowly losing her mind and he’d been trying to take care of her, said Vicente.
Larry told detectives he believed his wife had run off and abandoned her family.
MAYA'S CASE: A TIMELINE
- Jan 6, 2021: Maya contacts a friend, telling them she’d informed Larry she intended to divorce him “whether he likes it or not”
- Jan 7, 2021: Maya returns home from work at 4:42pm and is never seen again. Her last known communication was sent at 8:15pm in a private Facebook message about a toy hauler
- Jan 8, 2021: Larry skips out on work for the third consecutive day. He’s seen loading something in the back of his car in the early hours of the morning and driving off with his four-year-old son. He turns his phone off and returns home 12 hours later, claiming to have gone to the beach
- Jan 8, 2021: Maya’s brother goes to check on her, and Maya’s daughter informs him Maya has been in her room for 11 hours and she hasn’t been fed. He also spoke to Larry who said he’d been working all day and didn’t know where Maya was
- Jan. 9, 2021: Maya is reported missing by Maricris at 11:50pm after her phone calls and messages all went unanswered for more than 48 hours
- Jan. 10, 2021: Maya misses her daughter’s 11th birthday celebrations and concern for her well-being grows among her family
- Jan. 13, 2021: Dozens of friends, family, and concerned locals search for Maya at the nearby Mount San Miguel Park. Larry stays home with the children
- Jan. 23, 2021: Police action a search warrant at the Millete home, and Larry was described as cooperative
- Feb. 3, 2021: Larry retains a lawyer and is no longer cooperating with police
- Feb-April, 2021: Family members conduct various searches in and around Chula Vista and stage several public appeals but no traces of Maya are yielded
- May 1, 2021: Family and friends celebrate Maya’s 40th birthday at Fiest Island Park. Larry and the children do not attend
- May 7, 2021: Investigators serve a second search warrant at the Millete home, spending nearly seven hours at the property
- June 16, 2021: Larry bemoans media treatment and claims threats from the public have created a “toxic environment” for him and his children in a court filing. He denied any wrongdoing in Maya’s disappearance and claimed to be cooperating with police.
- July 1, 2021: The Millete home is searched for a third time to obtain “additional evidence and clues to her current whereabouts,” police said
- July 21, 2021: Larry Millete is named a person of interest in Maya’s disappearance for the first time, during a court hearing
- Oct. 19, 2021: Larry is arrested by a SWAT team at home at 11:42am following a nine-month investigation
- Oct. 21, 2021: Larry appears in court for the first time and denies murdering his wife
- Nov. 4, 2021: Larry’s request for bail is denied
Maya’s body has never been found but police believe Larry murdered his wife in a bout of rage after learning of her plans to divorce him – and later disposed of her body.
He was eventually arrested by police in October 2021 following a nine-month investigation.
Larry continues to deny harming Maya and has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Maricris said she shares the prosecution’s theory of what happened to her sister.
However, a very small part of her is still clinging to the hope they’ve got the wrong guy so the couple’s three young children can grow up with at least one of their biological parents.
“One percent of me wishes he didn’t do it because the kids need a parent,” Maricris told The U.S. Sun in late January.
“They can’t do anything about their mom because we know she’s gone. But one percent of me still wishes it’s not him, because of them.
“I still hold onto that little bit of hope it isn’t, so they can still have a dad they can look up to and grow up with because this has just all been so heartbreaking.
“I want them to have at least one parent.”
‘WE WANT ANSWERS’
Maya and Larry’s three children have been under the care of Larry’s parents since his arrest.
A custody trial is pending to determine whether they will stay with their grandparents or move in with Maricris, who has requested custody.
Above all else, Maya said she doesn’t care what happens to Larry come January – she just wants to know where her sister is.
“All we want is to bring my sister home,” she said.
“Justice will prevail, and whatever he did to my sister he’ll be judged for in the afterlife. As long as we can bring my sister back, that’s all that matters.
“Finding out where she is will lift the burden of the cross we’ve been carrying and finally help us find some peace in our family.
“I’m hoping this trial will bring that […] if he did it, we’re hoping and praying he will let us know what happened and stop our suffering.
“If he goes to jail, I don’t even care. We just want answers.”
