3-Year-Old Kamille McKinney Died From Suffocation

Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney, a 3-year-old girl whose body was found in a dumpster more than a week after she vanished from a birthday party in Alabama, died from suffocation, according to documents read during a court appearance for the man and woman charged in her murder.

The man, Patrick Stallworth, and the woman, Derick Brown, appeared before a judge on Friday at Jefferson County Criminal Court less than 24 hours after the district attorney announced that they each had been charged with capital murder in Kamille's death, NBC News reported.

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Stallworth told the judge, "I don't understand how I'm being charged with the murder of this child."

According to court documents, Kamille died of asphyxiation on Oct. 12, the same day she went missing from an outdoor birthday party at a home in Birmingham. Police said the girl, known as "Cupcake," was at the home with her mother and other relatives. 

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Her remains were discovered Tuesday in a dumpster at a landfill, ending an intense 10-day search for her.

Photo Credit: FBI via AP

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