A Texas man accepted a plea deal on Friday for abducting and killing an 11-year-old girl last year.
In a report by KPRC, Don McDougal was handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He admitted to two charges of capital murder related to the killing of Audrii Cunningham. Cunningham went missing in February 2024 when McDougal failed to complete the task of dropping her off at her designated bus stop.
McDougal resided in a trailer situated behind Cunningham’s family home in Livingston. He was an acquaintance of Cunningham’s father. Following her disappearance, an AMBER Alert was triggered. The search came to a tragic conclusion five days later when Cunningham’s body was located in the Trinity River, close to where her backpack had been found.
READ: Cause of Death Revealed for Abducted 11-Year-Old Found in River
An autopsy determined Cunningham died from homicidal violence and blunt-force head trauma.
Reports by KRIV indicated that due to McDougal’s cognitive and intellectual limitations, the Polk County prosecutors were unable to pursue a death penalty sentence in this particular case.
Even though McDougal had a prior conviction for enticing a child, a plea deal spared him from being a registered sex offender.
“You took away the life of our little angel. Your punishment in this life will never fit the crime. Nothing will ever bring her back, and that’s your fault,” Cunningham’s grandmother told McDougal at Friday’s sentencing hearing, per KPRC.
“May you rot in hell.”
[Feature Photo: Shutterstock]
