A family friend is charged with murder in the death of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham in Texas
Kristlyn Wood, a cousin of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, reacts during a vigil in Cunningham's honor, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, in Livingston, Texas. Cunningham's family reported her missing Thursday, Feb. 15, when she failed to return to her Livingston home after school. On Tuesday, Feb. 20, search teams found her body in the Trinity River in a rural area north of Houston about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from her home, according to the capital murder criminal complaint filed Tuesday against Don Steven McDougal, a family friend accused of killing the young girl. Credit: AP/Jason Fochtman
A family friend accused of killing 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham was supposed to take the Texas girl to her school bus stop when they left her home in his vehicle nearly a week before authorities found her body in a river, according to court documents released Wednesday.
A large rock was tied to her body when search teams found it Tuesday in the Trinity River in a rural area north of Houston about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from her home, according to the capital murder criminal complaint filed Tuesday against Don Steven McDougal.
Audrii's family reported her missing on Feb. 15 when she failed to return to her Livingston home after school. Investigators discovered that she never got on the bus to go to school that morning.
McDougal, 42, lived in a camper on the family’s property near the shore of Lake Livingston and had previously taken Audrii to the bus stop or to school when she missed the bus, according to Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons.
McDougal was arrested Friday on an unrelated assault charge and it was not clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the capital murder case. The justice of the peace who released the complaint did not know if McDougal had hired an attorney yet but said he had indicated he did not want a court-appointed lawyer.
A backpack that authorities believe belonged to the child was found Friday near the Lake Livingston dam. That lake is one of the state’s largest reservoirs and was created with a dam on the Trinity River.
Lyons has said there is “substantial evidence” in the case. He said cellphone data was used to help identify places to look and that the local river authority slowed down the outflow of the reservoir to help search teams that were in the water.
The Trinity River is seen near where law enforcement found the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston, Texas. Divers have recovered the body Cunningham days after the girl went missing, and authorities are preparing to file a murder charge against a friend of her father who lived on her family’s property, a sheriff said Tuesday afternoon. Credit: AP/Jason Fochtman
"My heart aches with this news,” Lyons said Tuesday.
Polk County District Attorney Shelly Sitton has not said whether her office will seek the death penalty.
Audrii lived with her father, grandparents and other family members, authorities said.
Court records from Brazoria County, south of Houston, show McDougal pleaded no contest in 2008 to two felony counts of enticing a child and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Polk County Sheriff Bryon Lyons speaks as he and other law enforcement officials announce Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Livingston, Texas, that the body of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham had been found in the Trinity River near her home. Credit: AP/Jason Fochtman
The sheriff said Audrii's body was taken to the Harris County medical examiner’s office in Houston to determine the cause of death.
A candlelight vigil was held for Audrii on Wednesday evening in Livingston on the grounds of an outdoor venue.
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Associated Press writer Sean Murphy contributed to this report from Oklahoma City.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
