12-year-old charged with murder of 8-year-old cousin over iPhone

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – A 12-year-old girl was charged with the murder of her 8-year-old cousin following a dispute Monday over an iPhone, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

The alleged tween killer is accused of strangling her younger cousin with bedding while she slept at the top of a bunk bed, AP reported. The two had been arguing over an Apple smartphone, WREG reported, citing the victim’s mother, Rayana Smith. Both the victim, identified as Demeria Hollingsworth, and the suspect reportedly arrived from out of town to stay with their grandmother in Humboldt, Tennessee. The argument is believed to have taken place during that interlude.

The intrafamily incident was captured by an in-home security camera in the bedroom the kin shared the night of the alleged July 15 smothering, Gibson District Attorney Frederick Agee said, AP reported.

The footage reportedly showed the 12-year-old suspect using bed sheets to suffocate Hollingsworth as she slept. Once Hollingsworth appeared to die, “the juvenile cleaned up the victim and repositioned her body,” Agee stated, according to the outlet.

“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, according to the outlet.

The suspect was charged with murder in the first degree, as well as witness tampering by officials Wednesday, following a review of the video footage, AP reported.

Country Prosecutor Agee stated he would petition a judge seeking to charge the girl as an adult, in pursuit of “a lengthier sentence, whether that will be through incarceration or supervision with court-ordered conditions,” according to AP.

“She did nothing to deserve for her life to be taken,” Smith told WREG. “She was only eight years old. She just turned eight in April.”

“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, the outlet reported.