News

Couple Arrested After 3-Year-Old Girl Kidnapped During a Birthday Party Found Dead

NewsPublished Oct 23, 2019
By Kaitlin Stanford
Kamille AL.com/YouTube

After more than a week of tireless searching, investigators made a grisly discovery in the case of a missing 3-year-old girl from Alabama, who vanished during a birthday party. A body believed to be that of Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney was found in a dumpster on Tuesday, after the trash bin had been transported to a landfill. And now, two suspects are in custody.

The disturbing find marked an end to an exhaustive 10-day investigation by Alabama police and the FBI.

"I wish I had all of you gathered here with good news. I wish I could share a high five or some other type of celebratory salutation but I cannot,'' Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said during a press conference Tuesday.

"Our investigators, along with the FBI, have worked tirelessly, 24 hours a day, to locate this young child and bring her back home and to hold those accountable who were involved in her disappearance ... and ultimately her demise," Smith said.

Kamille had been standing near other children outside at a birthday party in Tom Brown Village when she vanished on October 12.

No adults witnessed the abduction, but the accounts of several children proved incredibly useful to investigators -- especially once they were corroborated by security footage captured by cameras on a nearby building.

A man driving an SUV had been handing out candy to kids at the Tom Brown Village housing complex shortly before Kamille's abduction, the children said. Once police got their hands on the grainy security footage, they could just make out a man matching the children's description walking out of the frame with the toddler.

Within 24 hours of Kamille’s disappearance, AL.com reported that police were "confident" they had not one, but two people who were behind the crime: Patrick Stallworth, 39, and his 29-year-old girlfriend, Derick Irisha Brown.

Just one day after the toddler's disappearance, the pair were quickly tracked down, taken into custody, and questioned by police. Stallworth had been positively identified as the man who'd been roaming around the housing complex on October 12, and his Toyota Sequoia, which matched the description of the vehicle he was driving, was quickly impounded.

Still, Cupcake McKinney was nowhere to be found.

Police wouldn't share what led them to the landfill in Warrior, Alabama, but they did say that investigators sifted through trash for 12 hours.

“This is a tough moment for this city. This is a tough moment for this family,” said Mayor Randall Woodfin, who added that the child's parents are no doubt experiencing "unimaginable" pain.

The two suspects, whose lawyers insist are innocent, are said to have no obvious links to the McKinney family. Their lack of connections may be true, but police aren't buying their innocence.

“We believe that this was something they thought about and acted upon," the police chief said during Tuesday's press conference. "They saw an opportunity to take a young child and they did. Our further investigation will reveal whatever happened after that."

After searching Stallworth's phone, police charged him with seven counts of possession of child pornography. That said, none of the images are of Kamille, AL.com reported, and his lawyer claimed he has an alibi for the time police say the toddler was taken.

Meanwhile, Brown was held on a bond revocation stemming from a previous kidnapping case that involved her children. Adam Danneman, a public defender whose office represents the 29-year-old, said she “adamantly denies” being involved in the abduction and is "horrified” by what happened to the little girl.

The investigation is ongoing, as police continue to build their case.

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