[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A 12-year-old girl in Tennessee has been arrested and charged with murder after allegedly killing her 8-year-old cousin during an argument.
According to Humboldt County District Attorney Frederick Agee, the 12-year-old girl — who is about to turn 13, per multiple media reports — has officially been charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Agee declined to name either her or her victim. The tragic incident occurred last Monday, with authorities in Humboldt County quickly bringing the girl in for questioning. Days later, Agee decided to pursue murder charges against the minor.
Related: Man Sentenced For Killing Best Friend — After Writing TWO Songs About Murdering Him!
Horrifically, Agee did reveal the reason behind the murder: it was an argument over an iPhone. According to the DA in a press release sent to the media late last week, the 12-year-old allegedly used sheets and pillows from her bed to smother her younger cousin as the little girl slept in the top bunk of the bunk bed the two of them had been sharing. And it gets even worse than that: per Agee, police have obtained surveillance footage from security cameras inside the home that shows the suffocation murder taking place.
WTF…
Agee’s office has already filed a motion to charge the accused killer as an adult, too. Part of the reason why they did that with a defendant so young is because police claim the girl cleaned up the victim and repositioned her body after the killing to try to cover up evidence. Sickened by the evil nature of the alleged act, Agee said in a statement to the media:
“I consider this to be one of the most disturbing violent acts committed by either an adult or juvenile that my office has prosecuted.”
As we’ve noted, Agee did not identify either girl in his release — but the 8-year-old victim’s mother did. Speaking to WREG News, Rayana Smith revealed that it was her daughter, Demeria Hollingsworth (pictured above), who was murdered. She told that outlet the two girls got into an argument over the cell phone that led to the killing. Smith added:
“[Demeria] 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.”
The grieving mother has since started a GoFundMe page in a bid to raise funds for Demeria’s funeral. On that page, Rayana wrote:
“I just lost my baby, the most beautiful child of God on Monday, July 15th. The pain I’m feeling is unbearable. I have to now live life without her in this crazy world. But I have another child who’s depending on me, and I have to be strong for my baby because she lost her big sister also. I never imagined anything like this would happen and now find myself trying to fund a funeral.”
As of Tuesday morning, that GoFundMe has raised nearly $17,000 in donations. You can visit it HERE.
We seriously have no words to add to this story. It’s just absolutely heartbreaking…
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Image via GoFundMe]
