BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Emotional testimony over the death of a 3-year-old girl who had been kidnapped days before her body was found in a dumpster was heard during the federal trial of one of her accused kidnappers.
On Wednesday, the trial continued against Patrick Stallworth, who is charged along with his girlfriend, Derick Irisha Brown, of kidnapping Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney from a party in Tom Brown Village on October 12, 2019. On Oct. 23, her body was found in a dumpster outside an apartment in Center Point.
Jonathon Ross, lead detective on the search and investigation of McKinney, was among the first people to testify Wednesday morning. During Ross’ time on the stand, the prosecution played an interview Ross and BPD conducted with Stallworth.
In the video, Stallworth said Brown was the one who kidnapped McKinney and killed her by putting her hand over her nose and mouth.
However, Stallworth’s defense countered with Brown admitting on video that she would lie if the police wanted her to.
Later in the day, Retired FBI Agent Stanley Ruffin took the witness stand and detailed how he discovered McKinney’s body in a Jefferson County landfill.
An emotional Ruffin said, with his voice cracking, “I saw what I thought was a doll. It wasn’t a doll. It was a little girl.”
The prosecution showed images from the discovery of the 3-year-old at the landfill. As the images were only allowed to be shown to the jury, a large whiteboard was wheeled into the courtroom to block the view of McKinney’s friends and family, who took up almost an entire section of the courtroom.
The media was also blocked from viewing the images, but as the images came across the screens in front of the jurors, several wiped tears from their eyes.
Chief U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler is presiding over the trial at the Hugo Black Courthouse and instructed the prosecution to only leave the images up on the screens for a matter of seconds.
The day’s testimony also included Forensic Pathologist Daniel Dye testifying that the antidepressant Trazodone, as well as Benadryl and methamphetamine, were found in the 3-year-old’s system. He also claimed the drugs played a role in McKinney’s death.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Derrick Collins, Dye admitted that there was no evidence of any injuries associated with sexual abuse.
The prosecution is expected to call their final witnesses tomorrow before the defense begins calling witnesses to the stand. The trial will continue tomorrow.
The defense is expected to wrap up Thursday.