Who killed Kamille 'Cupcake' McKinney? Alabama couple indicted for kidnapping and brutal murder of 3-year-old
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: A couple from Alabama has been indicted on state charges of capital murder during a kidnapping, and capital murder of a child under the age of 14 following the death of Kamille 'Cupcake' McKinney. Patrick Devone Stallworth and Derick Irisha Brown were charged on Tuesday, January 5, after they allegedly abducted Kamille in October 2019, before killing her. They were seen as accused by investigators within 24 hours of the three-year-old's kidnapping. If found guilty, the 40-year-old man and his 30-year-old girlfriend could face the death penalty.
Kamille disappeared during a birthday party on October 12, 2019, which launched a ten-day manhunt that captivated the state. But despite all the efforts, the little girl could not be saved and her remains were found in a dumpster with high levels of meth and sedatives in her systems. Later in December 2019, homicide detective Jonathan Ross explained the couple’s alleged criminal activity that eventually resulted in Kamille's tragic death.
The detective said that at a Shell gas station near Tom Brown Village — the area from where Kamille belonged — Stallworth bought $81.91 worth of candy before they allegedly kidnapped the victim. The surveillance footage then showed him trying to distribute them to the kids. Ross also quoted a ten-year-old boy, who told him that he saw little Kamille getting into the car of Stallworth and Brown, and she was crying. Besides, on the night of the abduction, as per the testimony, the man purchased an energy drink and an erectile dysfunction pill at a convenience store near his house. As soon as cops got to know about the child’s kidnapping, they reportedly started going to businesses around Tom Brown Village to get more security footage.
Two days after Kamille was kidnapped, Stallworth and Brown were arrested on unrelated charges. While the man was pressed with seven counts of possession of child pornography charges, his partner faced charges related to violating probation conditions from a previous kidnapping case involving her own children. The duo blames each other for the crime. Brown reportedly told Ross that Stallworth forced the young girl to perform oral sex on him at their Center Point apartment. The woman said she went to sleep then and the next morning when she did not see the child, she questioned Stallworth, who told her she was high. Ross claimed that later she saw her boyfriend leaving the house carrying a trash bag. The woman also told investigators where they could find Kamille's body. In a dumpster on October 22, 2019, cops found the girl’s remains which resulted in getting the couple charged with murder on October 24, 2019. Besides, a fellow inmate of Stallworth said that he confessed to “accidentally killing the baby”.
Opposite to Brown’s statement, Stallworth said that he saw his girlfriend sitting with Kamille on the couch. He claimed that when he said to Brown, “That's not your child”, she told him she wanted to “keep” her. The man also said that Brown asked him to “do something sexual to the child”, but he refused and went outside to smoke a cigarette, Ross stated. After that, the woman allegedly put off McKinney’s clothes to give her a bath. Stallworth claimed to witness his partner “put her hands over Cupcake's nose and mouth” while the child was sleeping.
“The kidnapping of a child is one of a parent's biggest fears. Despite their best efforts, federal, state, and local law enforcement were not able to bring the three-year-old victim home to her family,” Lloyd C. Peeples, First Assistant United States Attorney, said when the two suspects were federally charged with the kidnapping in July. “However, we hope that today's charges will be a step towards bringing justice for her and her family.”
The state charges were brought against Stallworth and Brown after they were indicted federally with kidnap by a grand jury in July. They were arraigned in August and both of them pleaded not guilty. A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for them on March 31 by Jefferson County Judge Clyde Jones on January 5.