Current:Home > ContactDon Steven McDougal indicted in murder, attempted kidnapping of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham -StockFocus
Don Steven McDougal indicted in murder, attempted kidnapping of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham
View
Date:2025-04-17 02:56:00
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! (15)
Related
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- The sun baby from the Teletubbies is having a baby
- 1 officer killed, 1 hurt in shooting at airport parking garage in Philadelphia
- Golden Bachelor's Joan Vassos Shares Family Update After Shocking Exit
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Kourtney Kardashian Fires Back at Criticism Over Getting Pregnant at Age 44
- Stephen Rubin, publisher of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and other blockbusters, dies at 81
- Finding your place in the galaxy with the help of Star Trek
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- AP PHOTOS: Scenes of grief and desperation on war’s 7th day
Ranking
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Palestinians flee south after Israel calls for evacuation of northern Gaza
- Judge denies bid to prohibit US border officials from turning back asylum-seekers at land crossings
- France is deploying 7,000 troops after a deadly school stabbing by a suspected Islamic radical
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Maria Bamford gets personal (about) finance
- An employee at the Israeli Embassy in China has been stabbed. A foreign suspect is detained
- Azerbaijanis who fled a separatist region decades ago ache to return, but it could be a long wait
Recommendation
The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
Want a Drastic Hair Change? Follow These Tips From Kristin Cavallari's Hairstylist Justine Marjan
A Reuters videographer killed in southern Lebanon by Israeli shelling is laid to rest
Members of Congress seek clemency for Native American leader convicted of murder
Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
Iran’s foreign minister warns Israel from Beirut it could suffer ‘a huge earthquake’
11 sent to hospital after ammonia leak at Southern California building
Environmentalists warn of intent to sue over snail species living near Nevada lithium mine