Patrick Stallworth, 40, and Derick Irsha Brown, 30, are set to appear in court on March 31.
Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney’s suspected killers have been indicted in her abduction and murder. The 3-year-old Alabama girl’s body was found in a Birmingham dumpster in October 2019.
Patrick Stallworth, 40, and Derick Irsha Brown, 30, have been indicted on capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and capital murder of a child during a kidnapping. A Jefferson County grand jury delivered the state charges following a session in December.
They are set to appear in court for their pretrial hearing on March 31, a judge announced Tuesday, according to WBMA. The U.S. Attorney General has not announced whether the death penalty will be pursued, AL.com reported.
The pair were federally indicted in July 2020 on one count of kidnapping and one count of conspiring to kidnap a minor in connection to the case. Stallworth and Brown were arraigned a month later and pleaded not guilty.
Kamille was outside playing with friends last year at the birthday party when she disappeared from Tom Brown Village public housing community in Avondale.
Her body was found ten days later in a Birmingham landfill. An autopsy revealed Kamille died from asphyxiation by suffocation, but she also had a cocktail of drugs in her system at the time, including methamphetamine and Trazodone, a sedative used to treat depression and insomnia.
After Kamille went missing, an Amber Alert was quickly issued and police asked the public to be on the lookout for a dark-colored Toyota Sequoia. The day after the abduction, Stallworth and Brown were taken into custody after police say they caught Stallworth on surveillance footage. The Toyota Sequoia was also seized by police at the time.
Stallworth previously claimed he had “nothing to do with the abduction or killing of Kamille.” His defense attorney, Derrick Collins, also previously told the court that Stallworth lied about being involved because of his “love for Brown,” and has said she was solely responsible.
Stallworth and Brown were allegedly near the area of the birthday party around the time of Kamille's disappearance. Stallworth also bought candy from a Shell gas station near Tom Brown Village on the same day, according to reports.
Two girls told authorities that they were approached by the pair on the same day and Stallworth said, “I’m looking for a girl that looks like you,” Ross said in court. The teens also claimed Stallworth offered them candy, but they got spooked and left.
Both Stallworth and Brown maintain their innocence and deny all wrongdoing.
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