Derick Irisha Brown Wiki – Derick Irisha Brown Biography
A federal jury has convicted Derick Irisha Brown in the 2019 deadly abduction of 3-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney. The jury deliberated for about one hour and 15 minutes before alerting court officials they had reached a verdict. Brown, 32, was convicted of kidnapping that resulted in death and one count of conspiracy to kidnap a minor victim.
She faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.A federal jury in Birmingham last month took less than an hour to convict Brown’s ex-boyfriend – 42-year-old Patrick Stallworth – of the same crimes. Stallworth and Brown still are charged with capital murder in state court. No state trial dates have yet been set.
Derick Irisha Brown Age
Derick Irisha Brown is 32 years old.
Investigation
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.
Prior to Thursday’s verdict, attorneys on both sides presented their closing arguments.Lloyd Peeples, chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division, said beyond a reasonable doubt that Brown committed kidnapping and conspiracy of kidnapping. “This trial is about the defendant and her actions,’’ Peeples said. “She knows the plan. She’s not about to let that little girl get away.”
Peeples told jurors a story about watching the Veterans Day parade in Birmingham last week from the window of his downtown office. He said how saw a little boy that momentarily appeared lost and then someone reaching out a hand to help him. He told jurors to compare that hand to the hand that the medical examiner testified could have caused the fatal asphyxiation of Cupcake by putting it over the girl’s nose and mouth.
“Kamille McKinney didn’t find a hand of safety,’’ Peeples said. “She didn’t find a hand to help her. She certainly didn’t find someone ‘minding their own business.’’’ “She found her kidnappers. She found a hand that covered her nose and mouth,’’ Peeples said. “She found evil. She didn’t find one monster, she found two.”“
It is now time for you to find justice, and to find that defendant guilty,’’ he said. Following the verdict, Peeples said he was thankful the jury stood up for justice, and for Cupcake. “Next week is Thanksgiving. It’s been three years since Cupcake McKinney was taken,’’ he said. “Next week will be the fourth Thanksgiving that her family will be without that little girl.”
“There will be an empty chair at that Thanksgiving table,’’ Peeples said. “An empty spot on the playground where that little girl should be playing with her friends and cousins.” In addition to Peeples, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Blake Milner and Brittany Byrd prosecuted Brown. Brown was represented by federal public defenders Kevin Butler, Robin Robertson and Tobie Smith.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler presided over both trials. While Stallworth’s trial was held in Birmingham, Brown’s attorneys successfully sought to have her trial moved to Tuscaloosa because of pretrial publicity. “Kamille McKinney’s loss is felt not only by her family, but also by our entire community,” said Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona.
“While these prosecutions cannot bring her back, Stallworth and Brown will never be able to threaten or harm another child.”“While I applaud today’s verdict, the only proper outcome in this matter would be to have Kamille returned to her family” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Felix Rivera-Esparra. “
Brown’s heinous actions cut short a precious life that can never be replaced.” Brown contemplated taking the stand in her own defense, but was discouraged by her attorneys to do so. She did not show any emotion when the verdict was read.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 Cupca Stallworth claimed that Brown had taken the girl, saying that he wanted to keep her, also saying that Brown wanted him to touch her sexually. He told detectives that Brown “put Cupcake to sleep” by placing his hands over her nose and mouth.
Medical experts have previously testified that Cupcake died from suffocation. He had methamphetamine, trazodone and Benadryl in his system. Dr. Daniel Dye, of the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office, said methamphetamine and trazodone contributed to the baby’s death.
In closing arguments, Milner told jurors that the evidence showed that Brown entered into an “evil plan” with Stallworth to kidnap a child. When that plan came true, she should have developed a conscience,” he said. “When Stallworth took that 3-year-old to the car, she should have rolled down her window and screamed.
When they traveled to the Jet Pep gas station, instead of wasting money on gas, she should have picked up that phone and called 911. When she was alone in that car, she should have held that baby’s hand and pulled her to safety.”
“When this defendant was left alone with Cupcake, with Patrick Stallworth at the Chevron gas station for at least 15 minutes, she should have rescued that girl. She didn’t,” she said. “Because of this defendant, she has left.” “It’s time someone answered for that. It is time for this defendant to be held accountable under the law for her actions,” Milner said. “It’s justice time for Cupcake, to give that baby a rest.”
Prosecutors presented more than 100 pieces of evidence and more than 20 witnesses during the three-day trial.
We will never know the exact horrors of what happened inside that apartment. But we know the defendant did,” Milner said. “We also know that the defendant knows exactly what happened to her body. This defendant stripped this girl of all humanity from her. He took her clothes off… he took her to the construction dumpster and dumped her there.”
Butler, one of Brown’s lawyers, began his closing arguments by showing a photo of Stallworth and calling him an “absolute freak.”“On October 12, 2019, he kidnapped and ultimately killed Kamille Cupcake McKinney,” Butler said. Butler said Stallworth went to Tom Brown Village to deal drugs and happened upon his birthday party. He was unexpected, he said, and therefore could not have been part of a plan.
“He’s taking advantage of an opportunity,” Butler said. “You can’t plan a spontaneous event.” Butler maintained that there was no plan, no conspiracy. “She had no idea what was going on,” he said of Brown. Again, Butler reviewed the couple’s actions that day, which included going to Stallworth’s workplace to pick up a cell phone charger and going to a recycling business to earn money from scrap metal.
“Patrick Stallworth controlled everything they did that day,” Butler said. He said what happened when the couple returned to his apartment was “horrible.” Stallworth, he said, took Cupcake to the apartment. Brown, he said, sat in the car for two hours, to which two witnesses testified. “Miss Brown wants nothing to do with what that monster is doing there.”
“At this stage, I think everyone sitting here should be angry, furious and heartbroken at their lack of action. She did not step in to help this child,” Butler said. “However, that is not the reason why you are here.” She cannot be found guilty of kidnapping because she sat in the car and did nothing,” she said. “That’s not the legal reason you’re here.”
“You can hate her for it. You can’t find her guilty just because of that,” Butler said. He urged jurors to put her anger aside, which he said was understandable, and determine whether Brown and “that monster” reached some kind of agreement to kidnap a child. He maintained no. “What happened? She was minding her own business,” he said. “Patrick killed Cupcake.”
“You all should be mad at Miss Brown for not intervening. It’s understandable. It’s normal,” Butler said. “She will have to live with the fact that she did nothing for this child for the rest of her life. But that’s not what you’re here to decide.
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