Woman Convicted in Kidnapping of 3-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney
FILE – This undated photo provided by the Birmingham Police Department shows Derick Irisha Brown. (Birmingham Police Department via AP, File)
Federal jurors have convicted a woman in the death of 3-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney who disappeared from a public housing community in Birmingham in 2019.
News outlets reported that 32-year-old Derick Irisha Brown was convicted of a kidnapping that led to a death and conspiracy in the abduction of McKinney, whose remains were found 10 days after she was last seen following a birthday party in Birmingham. The girl’s disappearance had led to a search that lasted more than a week.
Brown faces life in prison.
Brown’s former boyfriend, 42-year-old Patrick Devone Stallworth, was convicted last month on the same charges.
Prosecutors said the two had planned to kidnap a child on the day the girl disappeared. The motive was unclear, with authorities saying Brown might have wanted the girl because she lost custody of her children and Stallworth might have wanted her for sex.
Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney
The search for the girl gripped metro Birmingham until McKinney’s body was found in a dumpster at an area landfill. Hundreds of people attended her funeral.
Jurors rejected defense claims that Brown minded her own business while Stallworth committed the crime. The two, who await trial on state murder charges, blamed each other following their arrests.
Medical testimony showed that the girl died of asphyxia and had drugs including methamphetamine in her system.
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