A 12-year-old girl has been charged with murder after suffocating her younger cousin while she slept.
A surveillance camera captured the murder on July 15, in Humboldt, Tennessee, inside the bedroom they shared, according to ABC News. The county prosecutor confirmed this.
According to Gibson District Attorney Frederick Agee’s statement, the recording shows the older child suffocating her cousin with bedding while the younger girl slept in the top bunk. Following the child’s death, “the juvenile cleaned up the victim and repositioned her body,” Agee stated.
A family member in Memphis informed WREG-TV that the girls had been fighting over an iPhone since they arrived to stay with their grandma from out of town.
Upon obtaining the footage last Wednesday, investigators charged the child with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
“I consider this to be one of the most disturbing violent acts committed by either an adult or juvenile that my office has prosecuted,” Agee wrote.
He promised to ask a judge to prosecute the youngster in adult court, where she would be able to face charges because she will turn 13 later this month. “a lengthier sentence, whether that will be through incarceration or supervision with court-ordered conditions.”
