MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) – A 12-year-old girl in Humboldt, Tennessee, is being charged with first-degree murder after prosecutors say video shows her suffocating her 8-year-old cousin in a bunk bed they shared.
The girl, who will turn 13 next week, allegedly used bedding to suffocate her cousin, then cleaned up the victim and repositioned her body, say investigators who reviewed home security video of the incident.
The victim's mother, Rayana Smith, identified her as Demeria Hollingsworth. She remembered Demeria was always smiling, doing well in school, and hugging her little sister.
"She 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," Smith said.
Smith said the girls were staying with their grandmother in Humboldt for the summer. She says the issue stemmed over an argument over an iPhone.
"When they told me about that, I should have just gone to get my kid," she said. "But they were having fun for the summer and I didn’t think she would kill my baby."
It’s difficult for Smith to wrap her head around what happened to her daughter.
"She did nothing to deserve for her life to be taken," Smith said. "She was only 8 years old. She just turned 8 in April."
Frederick Agee, District Attorney General for the 28th District in West Tennessee, said his office is petitioning Juvenile Judge Mark Johnson to transfer the child to Circuit Court to be tried as an adult.
"I consider this to be one of the most disturbing violent acts committed by either an adult or juvenile that my office has prosecuted," Agee said in a statement posted to the office's social media page.
The 13-year-old is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Smith is hoping for the maximum sentence.
"Last time I seen my baby, she was smiling, giving me kisses, telling me she will see me when it’s time for her to come back home. She never coming back home. She never coming back home," Smith said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help with funeral costs.
