Patrick Stallworth sentenced to life without parole in Kamille ‘Cupcake’ McKinney’s kidnapping
Patrick Stallworth on Friday was sentenced to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole.
Sentencing is also being held this morning for Derick Irisha Brown.
Stallworth, 42, and Brown, 32, were convicted in separate trials in October and November.
Both were found guilty of kidnapping that resulted in death and conspiracy to kidnap a minor victim in the 2019 deadly abduction 3-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler, who presided over both trials, handed down the sentence Friday morning.
Assistant U.S. attorney Lloyd Peeples read a statement at Stallworth’s sentencing from Kamille’s mother, April Thomas, who cried as the statement was read.
“You knew what you did. You planned what you were going do to somebody’s kids. Unfortunately, that kid was my Cupcake,” the statement read.
“Did she call for me, her mother? I called for my Cupcake but she was gone because you took her. She never answered back and never came back because you took her, you took her life,” the statement continued.
Both still face trials in state court on capital murder charges, where they could receive the death penalty if tried and convicted.
Prosecutors contended that Stallworth and Brown planned all day to kidnap a child and did so on Oct. 12, 2019, at Birmingham’s Tom Brown Village public housing community.
The motive, they have previously said, could have been for Stallworth’s sexual gratification or because Brown had lost custody of her six children and wanted another child.
Stallworth and Brown were in a relationship at the time of the abduction.
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Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney
Testimony and evidence in both trials showed the couple’s movements all day that Saturday, which included a stop at a Shell service station near Tom Brown Village where Stallworth was seen on video buying $18.91 in candy.
Then, a short time later, a 12-year-old girl said Stallworth stopped her as she was leaving cheerleading practice at Hayes K-8 and asked her if she wanted some candy. She ran away.
Later, Stallworth and Brown were seen sitting in their Toyota Sequoia on a street and, when confronted by a resident, Brown asked where were all the children that used to play on the circle. That woman testified that Brown seemed overly interested in children.
Video from Tom Brown Village that night showed Stallworth talking to two little girls – Cupcake and her best friend/cousin Ava, also 3, before they walked off screen with him.
Ava, according to testimony, would later say when asked where Cupcake went, “Cupcake got in the car with that man. He took her to get candy at the store. I not want no candy.”
Since their 2019 arrests, Stallworth and Brown have blamed each other for the abduction and death of Cupcake.
Stallworth claimed Brown had taken the girl, saying she wanted to keep her, and he also said the Brown wanted him to sexually touch the girl. He told detectives that Brown “put Cupcake to sleep” by putting her hands over her nose and mouth.
Medical experts have previously testified that Cupcake died by asphyxia. She had methamphetamine, Trazodone and Benadryl in her system.
Dr. Daniel Dye, of the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office said the meth and Trazodone contributed to the baby’s death.