Patrick Stallworth and Derick Brown were scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning on federal kidnapping charges related to the abduction of a Birmingham, Alabama toddler.
Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney was kidnapped from a birthday party at the Tom Brown Village housing community in October of 2019.
McKinney’s body was discovered 10 days later in a dumpster.
Stallworth and Brown were both found guilty of kidnapping that resulted in death and conspiracy to kidnap a minor victim.
The motive, they have previously said, could have been for Stallworth’s sexual gratification or because Brown had lost custody of her six children and wanted another child.
Stallworth and Brown were in a relationship at the time of the abduction.
Testimony and evidence in both trials showed the couple’s movements all day that Saturday, which included a stop at a Shell service station near Tom Brown Village where Stallworth was seen on video buying $18.91 in candy.
Then, a short time later, a 12-year-old girl said Stallworth stopped her as she was leaving cheerleading practice at Hayes K-8 and asked her if she wanted some candy. She ran away.
Later, Stallworth and Brown were seen sitting in their Toyota Sequoia on a street and, when confronted by a resident, Brown asked where were all the children that used to play on the circle. That woman testified that Brown seemed overly interested in children.
Video from Tom Brown Village that night showed Stallworth talking to two little girls – Cupcake and her best friend/cousin Ava, also 3, before they walked off screen with him.
Ava, according to testimony, would later say when asked where Cupcake went, “Cupcake got in the car with that man. He took her to get candy at the store. I not want no candy.”
Since their 2019 arrests, Stallworth and Brown have blamed each other for the abduction and death of Cupcake.
Stallworth claimed Brown had taken the girl, saying she wanted to keep her, and he also said the Brown wanted him to sexually touch the girl. He told detectives that Brown “put Cupcake to sleep” by putting her hands over her nose and mouth.
Medical experts have previously testified that Cupcake died by asphyxia. She had methamphetamine, Trazodone and Benadryl in her system.
Dr. Daniel Dye, of the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office said the meth and Trazodone contributed to the baby’s death.
Stallworth was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with counts one and two each running concurrent.
Brown was also was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with counts one and two each running concurrent.
Emotions were high in the court room. Family members of the young Kamille McKinney occasionally letting out sobs as mother, April Thomas’s statement was read by U.S. Prosecutor Lloyd Peeples.
Stallsworth declined to share a statement with the family but his attorney read a statement on his behalf apologizing for his actions.
Brown, on the other hand, chose to read a statement to the family talking about her life, her regrets and asking for the family’s forgiveness.
Thomas did not extend that forgiveness in her written statement to each defendant.
She wrote, “You stole from me. You stole from Cupcake. You robbed her from her life” and “No punishment is enough for what you did.”
U.S. Prosecutor Peeples hopes this sentencing sends a loud message to anyone wanting to commit a violent act such as this.
“Hopefully these sentences today demonstrate to the community and to potential criminals that if you commit these crimes the penalties will be severe. As they should be,” said Peeples.
Both Stallworth and Brown will report for arraignment in Jefferson County on March 9th for capital murder. If convicted, both could face the death penalty.
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