Autopsy Reveals 11-Year-Old Audrii Cunningham's Cause Of Death
Medical examiners confirmed Audrii Cunningham, a missing 11-year-old Texas girl whose body was found in a river, was killed by blunt trauma to the head.
An autopsy determined that Audrii’s manner of death was classified as a homicide and caused by “homicidal violence,” Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to local news outlet KHOU 11 News.
The 11-year-old was reported missing on Feb. 15 after her absence from school. Don Steven McDougal, a family friend, was named a person of interest following the girl’s disappearance and was taken into custody on an unrelated assault charge.
Audrii Cunningham, 11, was reported missing last week after not showing up for school.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said McDougal was the last person to see her. According to Lyons, McDougal would sometimes take Audrii to school and admitted to leaving the house with her on that day.
Lyons also added that McDougal had ties to the Aryan Brotherhood, one of the U.S.’s oldest and deadliest white supremacist prison gangs, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Audrii’s body was located on Tuesday. McDougal was charged with capital murder in connection with the girl’s death.
According to charging documents obtained by KHOU News, authorities found Audrii’s body in the Trinity River tied to a large rock. Police said the rope was consistent with rope seen in McDougal’s car during a previous traffic stop.
In an interview with KHOU, Audrii’s mother, Casey Matthews, described her daughter as “a great child who was smart.”
“She should be at home where we know she’s safe, and she’s warm, and she’s fed, and she should be with her little brother,” Matthews said. “She should be doing what Audrii does ― smiling, laughing, making everybody else smile and laugh.”
