12-year-old accused of fatally suffocating 8-year-old cousin in bunk beds in Tennessee

Security camera footage captured a 12-year-old suffocating her 8-year-old cousin to death in bunk beds they shared, Tennessee authorities said.

The 12-year-old, soon to be 13, is now charged with first-degree murder and faces the possibility of being tried as an adult, according to a news release from the Office of the District Attorney General for the 28th Judicial District.

The girls were both from out of town and were visiting family in Humboldt, officials said.

On July 15, the 8-year-old went to sleep in the top bunk, then the 12-year-old is seen taking some bedding and using “her full body weight” to cover the younger girl’s face, District Attorney General Frederick Agee told WMC.

The 8-year-old struggled before she went still, then the 12-year-old was seen taking tissues to wipe the girl’s face and positioning her under the covers, Agee told the outlet.

Investigators learned a camera had captured the incident, and after reviewing the footage, they charged the girl with murder and tampering with evidence.

“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 the July 18 news release.

He added that his office is petitioning a judge to transfer the case to circuit court for the girl to face a more serious sentence “due to the horrendous nature of this crime.”

McClatchy News could not locate the attorney representing the 12-year-old.

Rayana Smith told WREG her daughter, Demeria , was the one who died.

“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,” Smith told the outlet. “My baby was sweet.”

Humboldt is about a 100-mile drive northeast from Memphis.

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