A 12-year-old girl has been charged with murder after her 8-year-old cousin was allegedly suffocated to death.
Prosecutors said video allegedly showed the incident in Humboldt, Tennessee, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis.
The teenager, who turns 13 next week, has been charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Authorities said a video allegedly showed the teenager choking her cousin Demeria Hollingsworth on July 15.
Prosecutors added that the video came from home security footage and said the incident allegedly occurred in the bunk bed the two children shared.
District Attorney General Frederick Agee said the teenager allegedly used bedding to suffocate the victim while she slept, in a Facebook post publish on the office page.
He added that the suspect cleaned her cousin and repositioned her body.
These children were together because they spent the summer with their grandmother.
The victim’s mother, Rayana Smith, said the problem between the girls stemmed from an argument over an iPhone, according to Fox affiliate WXIN.
Smith shared touching words as she remembered her daughter.
“She liked reading books, swimming, playing outside, riding her bike every day, playing with the neighborhood kids, playing with my friends’ kids,” she said.
“My baby was sweet.”
“She did nothing to deserve her life being taken,” the mother added.
“She was only 8 years old. She just turned 8 in April.”
District Attorney General Agee said his office asked Juvenile Judge Mark Johnson to try the suspect as an adult, according to WXIN.
“I consider this to be one of the most disturbing violent acts committed by an adult or juvenile that my office has ever prosecuted,” he wrote.
She did nothing to deserve her life being taken.”
Rayana Smith
Agee said that under the state’s current laws, the suspect, if convicted, would be free from further arrest once he turns 19.
He added that neither the victim nor the suspect were from Humboldt.
The victim’s mother created a GoFundMe for his daughter’s funeral.
“I never imagined something like this could happen and now I’m trying to finance a funeral,” she wrote on the page.
District Attorney General Agee said his office could no longer comment on the case due to a gag order issued by the courts, according to the CBS affiliate WREG.
The Court Registrar was also unable to comment on the case as it involved a minor under 14 years of age.
The 12-year-old’s parents could not be reached for comment.
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