A 12-year-old girl in Humboldt, Tennessee, is being charged with first-degree murder for suffocating her 8-year-old cousin in a bunk bed they shared, prosecutors say.
On July 17, District Attorney General for the 28th District in West Tennessee, Frederick Agee’s office received home security footage of a 12-year-old girl using bedding to smother her 8-year-old cousin in the top bunk of the bunk beds they were sharing. The District Attorney’s office said that, after the suffocation, the 12-year-old cleaned up her cousin’s body and repositioned it.
The girl, who is reportedly turning 13 next week, is charged with first degree murder and tampering with evidence. Agee said his office is petitioning Juvenile Judge Mark Johnson to transfer the child to Circuit Court to be tried as an adult.
The victim’s mother, Rayana Smith, identified her as Demeria Hollingsworth.
“She liked to read books, go swimming, play outside, ride her bike every day, play with the kids in the neighborhood, play with my friends kids. My baby was sweet,” Smith told WREG Memphis.
Smith said the girls were staying with their grandmother in Humboldt for the summer. She says the issue stemmed from an argument over an iPhone.
“When they told me about that, I should have just gone to get my kid. But they were having fun for the summer and I didn’t think she would kill my baby,” she said. “She did nothing to deserve for her life to be taken. She was only eight years old. She just turned eight in April.”
“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 said in a statement posted to the office’s social media page.
Smith told WREG she is hoping for the maximum sentence.
“Last time I seen my baby, she was smiling, giving me kisses, telling me she will see me when it’s time for her to come back home. She never coming back home. She never coming back home,” Smith said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help with funeral costs.
