Accused killers of three-year-old Alabama girl face death penalty in two different courts
A couple who kidnapped and murdered a little girl in Alabama last year have been indicted on federal kidnapping charges.
As a consequence, Patrick Stallworth and Derick Irisha Brown are facing the death penalty in two different courts.
Three-year-old Kamille McKinney went missing while played outside her family's housing complex. CNN
Both have already been charged in state court with capital murder of a child, after the death of Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney, a three-year-old snatched from a birthday party.
Her body was found in a dumpster outside Birmingham ten days later.
"This crime is every parent's worst nightmare and my heart goes out to her family," said US Attorney Prim Escalona, the top Justice Department prosecutor in northern Alabama.
"Today brings us one step closer to seeing that justice is served for this family and for our community."
Kamille vanished while playing outside the Tom Brown Village Housing Community on October 12 last year.
Stallworth and Brown have both blamed each other for the little girl's death.
Patrick Devone Stallworth could face the death penalty in two different courts. Supplied
Stallworth's girlfriend Derick Irisha Brown has blamed him for Kamille's death. Supplied
Investigators were not aware of any link between the suspects and the girl's family.
"We can no longer assume that everyone is part of the village that is trying to raise the child," Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said after Kamille's body had been found.
An autopsy showed Kamille died of asphyxiation by suffocation, and had methamphetamine and Trazodone, an antidepressant, in her bloodstream.
If it is proven Kamille died as a result of the kidnapping, the penalty in federal court is life behind bars or the death penalty.
Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney vanished from a birthday party in a Birmingham housing complex. Supplied
The Trump administration recently reactivated the federal death penalty, and executed the first federal prisoners in 17 years earlier this month.
Daniel Lewis Lee, Wesley Ira Purkey and Dustin Lee Honken were all executed at a prison in Indiana in the space of four days.
Other federal prisoners on death row include Boston bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev and Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof.
Alabama executes more people than almost any other state.
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