Current:Home > ScamsDon Steven McDougal indicted in murder, attempted kidnapping of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham -ValueCore
Don Steven McDougal indicted in murder, attempted kidnapping of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham
View
Date:2025-04-19 00:29:40
A Texas grand jury indicted Don Steven McDougal on two counts of capital murder on Monday in the death of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, court documents showed.
McDougal, a family friend, was indicted in Polk County on charges of intentionally and knowingly causing the death of Audrii by blunt force trauma to the head with an unknown object and of causing her death while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping.
Audrii was reported missing after not boarding her neighborhood school bus on the morning of Feb. 15, CBS Texas reported. She was last seen near her home in Livingston, Texas, about 75 miles northeast of Houston.
McDougal was arrested the next day on an unrelated charge of aggravated assault, CBS Texas reported. He was then named as a person of interest in Audrii's disappearance after witnesses linked his dark blue Chevrolet Suburban to the case.
Audrii's body was found in the Trinity River on Feb. 20, about 10 miles from her home.
"She was perfection," Cassie Matthews, Audrii's mother, said about her daughter at a vigil held the day after Audrii's body was found. Family and friends gathered for the vigil wearing purple and carrying purple balloons as they prayed.
—Caitlin O'Kane contributed reporting.
S. DevS. Dev is a news editor for CBSNews.com.
veryGood! (617)
Related
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Martin Scorsese, out with new film, explains what interested him in Osage murders: This is something more insidious
- Brazil’s Lula vetoes core part of legislation threatening Indigenous rights
- Blac Chyna Shares Heartwarming Photo of Kids King Cairo and Dream Dancing
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Baltimore to pay $48 million to 3 men wrongly imprisoned for decades in ‘Georgetown jacket’ killing
- Man identified as 9th victim in Fox Hallow Farm killings decades after remains were found
- What's hot for Halloween, in Britney's book and on spicy food? Tell the NPR news quiz
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Five U.S. bars make World's 50 Best Bars list, three of them in New York City
Ranking
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Schools across U.S. join growing no-phone movement to boost focus, mental health
- North West Shares Dyslexia Diagnosis During Live Chat With Mom Kim Kardashian
- Paris Hilton’s New Photos of Baby Boy Phoenix Are Fire
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- A bad apple season has some U.S. fruit growers planning for life in a warmer world
- Horoscopes Today, October 20, 2023
- Judge threatens to hold Donald Trump in contempt after deleted post is found on campaign website
Recommendation
Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
Research by Public Health Experts Shows ‘Damning’ Evidence on the Harms of Fracking
AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa
Emily Blunt “Appalled” Over Her Past Fat-Shaming Comment
Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
Australia decides against canceling Chinese company’s lease of strategically important port
Emily Blunt “Appalled” Over Her Past Fat-Shaming Comment
Taylor Swift reacts to Sabrina Carpenter's cover of 'I Knew You Were Trouble'