Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney Cause Of Death Released, Toddler Died From Suffocation

Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney, the three-year-old Birmingham, Alabama girl who was abducted from a birthday party on October 12, died of asphyxiation by suffocation the same day she went missing, according to warrants read aloud by a judge at the initial court appearance for both charged suspects in her slaying.

Kamille was kidnapped in the Tom Brown Village public housing community on Oct. 12, around 8:30 p.m. Children at the party said Kamille was grabbed and taken away by a man in an SUV. A day after Kamille’s disappearance, Birmingham police took Patrick Devone Stallworth, and his girlfriend, Derick Irisha Brown, into custody and impounded his Toyota SUV after authorities said he was identified as a man seen in surveillance footage at a local store near the time of Kamille’s abduction.

Both suspects have been formally charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14; and if convicted, could both face the death penalty. The child’s body was found on Oct. 22 in a dumpster parked near the Center Point apartment complex where two suspects lived.

According to AL.com, the dumpster had been transported to a nearby landfill, where Birmingham police and FBI agents recovered Kamille’s body and pronounced her dead at 5:16 p.m. that afternoon.

Police have confirmed neither suspect had a connection to Kamille or her family and authorities believe the couple thought about committing the crime and allegedly seized the opportunity to abduct Kamille when they saw an opportunity.

Brown had already been in jail, without bond, since October 13 after her probation was revoked following a 2018 case in which she was accused of abducting her three children from state custody and allegedly leading cops on a chase on before crashing into an innocent motorist and a sheriff’s SUV. Her three children were in the vehicle during the pursuit and were fortunately not injured.

Stallworth was charged a week ago on four counts of possession of obscene material of persons under 17 years of age and three counts of possession with intent to disseminate obscene material after allegedly discovering illicit imagery on his phone. Those charges are unrelated to Kamille’s death and police say the child is not among the children who’s photographs were in his possession.

At Friday’s hearing, Stallworth reportedly said to the judge, “I don’t understand why I was charged with the murder of this child,” when asked if he had any questions. Adam Danneman, a public defender representing Brown, said she “adamantly denies” knowing anything about the abduction and is “horrified” by the case.

“Like everyone in our community, Ms. Brown is horrified about the ongoing tragedy involving Kamille McKinney. However, she adamantly denies having any personal knowledge or playing any role, direct or indirect, in this child’s abduction,” Danneman wrote in a statement to AL.com. Currently, both are being held at the Jefferson County Jail without bond.