The little girl whose body was found more than a week after she was abducted allegedly by strangers from a birthday party in Alabama had toxic levels of meth in her system at the time of her death, authorities said.
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An autopsy reportedly found that 3-year-old Kamille McKinney died from asphyxiation by suffocation, but she also tested positive for methamphetamine and the sedative, Trazodone, which is used to treat depression and insomnia.
The child’s body was found in a Birmingham landfill in October after she had disappeared from a birthday party 10 days earlier.
Police arrested Patrick Devone Stallworth, 39, and his girlfriend, Derick Irisha Brown, 29, after the discovery. The couple has no relation to Kamille’s family, police said. They have been charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 in connection with the case, but both maintain they are innocent.
Stallworth had previously been prescribed Trazodone, the sedative found in Kamille’s system, Det. Jonathan Ross testified at Stallworth's preliminary hearing, The Birmingham News reported.
Kamille was outside playing with friends at the birthday party on Oct. 12 at around 8:30 when she disappeared from Tom Brown Village public housing community in Avondale, according to police.
An Amber Alert was quickly issued and police asked the public to be on the lookout for a dark-colored Toyota Sequoia. The day after the abduction, the pair was taken into custody after police say they caught Stallworth on surveillance footage. The Toyota Sequoia was also seized by police at the time.
Brown was held by authorities in connection with a previous kidnapping case involving her children at the time, according to the News. Stallworth was charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography when authorities found pictures on his phone.
Stallworth claims he had “nothing to do with the abduction or killing of Kamille,” the News reported. His defense attorney, Derrick Collins, told the court on Tuesday that Stallworth lied about being involved because of his “love for Brown,” but now claims she was solely responsible.
Collins also said it was Brown who told police where Kamille’s remains could be found.
Ross testified in court that Stallworth and Brown were near the area of the birthday party around the time of Kamille's disappearance. Stallworth also bought candy from a Shell gas station near Tom Brown Village on the same day, Ross said, according to the paper.
Two girls told authorities that they were approached by the pair on the same day and Stallworth said, “I’m looking for a girl that looks like you,” Ross said in court. The teens also claimed Stallworth offered them candy, but they got spooked and left.
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