Kamille ‘Cupcake’ McKinney’s injuries described in emotional day of testimony (2024)

Retired FBI agent Stanley Ruffin described the horrific moment he found the decomposing body of 3-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney in a heap of trash at a Jefferson County landfill.

“I saw what I thought was a doll just laying there,’’ an emotional Ruffin testified. “And I realized it wasn’t doll.”

“I had to close my eyes to think if I was really seeing what I was seeing,’’ Ruffin said. “I took a moment, thought about my own children.”

“When I opened my eyes, I realized I was actually seeing a human body,’’ he said. “A little girl.”

Ruffin said he and other investigators then stopped and raised their hand, a predetermined signal to notify a supervisor that they had found something.

Through tears, Ruffin explained that they then placed Cupcake’s body in a bag.

He was asked what affect the discovery had on him and other law enforcement officers.

“Well, it was hard,’’ he said. “Everyone involved in this was visibly affected.”

“I was involved in 9/11 and I thought that was one of the worst things I would experience in my career, until this,’’ he said. “I had never dealt with a child.”

Ruffin said all involved in the recovery had to receive counseling, and Ruffin retired from the FBI a short time later. He now works for NASCAR.

Ruffin’s testimony came on day three of the federal kidnapping trial of Patrick Stallworth who, along with his girlfriend, are accused in the 2019 deadly abduction.

Stallworth and Derick Irisha Brown, 32, are both charged federally with kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap a minor.

Brown’s trial is set for Nov. 14 in federal court in Tuscaloosa. The U.S. Department of Justice previously ruled it will not seek the death penalty in the federal charges.

Both still are charged with capital murder in state court. No state trial dates have yet been set.

Cupcake vanished from a birthday party at Tom Brown Village public housing community on Oct. 12, 2019. Her body was found at the landfill 10 days later.

Chief U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler is presiding over the trial. Lloyd Peeples, chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division, along with assistant U.S.

Attorneys Brittany Byrd and Blake Milner, are prosecuting the case. Stallworth is represented by Birmingham attorney Derrick Collins.

During Ruffin’s testimony, jurors were shown photos of the landfill, and then photos of the discovery of Cupcake’s body.

The photos were not shown to the court spectators, and a barrier screen was placed in front of Cupcake’s family so they could not see the photos on the jurors’ monitors.

At least three of the jurors used tissues to wipe their eyes during the photos and Ruffin’s testimony. Another took a sharp breath.

Earlier Wednesday, Birmingham homicide Det. Jonathan Ross, who led the probe, testified about multiple interviews with Stallworth during the search for Cupcake, and immediately after her body was discovered.

In the first interview, which took place the day after Cupcake vanished, Stallworth denied having anything to do with the child’s disappearance.

“Why would I grab a kid,’’ Stallworth said in a video recorded interview that was shown to the jury. “We didn’t take no child.”

Stallworth described his girlfriend as an “awesome mom,’’ and gave no indication to having taken Cupcake.

Stallworth was interviewed by detectives again on Oct. 15, and Oct. 22 - the latter interview taking place after Cupcake’s body had been discovered.

Again, authorities said, Stallworth claimed to have no knowledge of Cupcake’s disappearance.

On Oct. 23, however, Ross testified that he was notified that Stallworth wanted to talk to detectives.

He and Birmingham homicide Det. Talana Brown went to the Jefferson County Jail to conduct the interview.

Ross said Stallworth waived his Miranda Rights and said he wanted to talk.

He told them his girlfriend had “started talking crazy” and “getting violent.” At some point, he said, he realized there was a little girl – Kamille – in the apartment with them.

“It kind of shocked me,’’ Stallworth told the detectives. “I just couldn’t understand where the (expletive) the baby come from. She (Derick Brown) said it was her baby.”

Stallworth told detectives that Brown wanted him to “do things to the baby.”

He said Brown had been molested as a child and wanted Stallworth to do the same things to Cupcake.

“We was freaky, you know what I’m saying,’’ Stallworth told the detectives, but said what Brown was suggesting was “too far.”

Stallworth said he repeated told his girlfriend to take the baby and leave.

He said he went to sleep and when he woke up, the baby was gone, and his girlfriend was beside him. They had sex, he told detectives.

Eventually, Stallworth told detectives that his girlfriend killed Cupcake. “I think she choked her. She might have choked her,’’ he said.

Stallworth was crying throughout the interview. “Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus,’’ Stallworth said, at times in a whisper. “I didn’t do it.”

Stallworth later told detectives that Brown put her hand over the baby’s nose and mouth.

Under cross examination by Collins, Ross testified they had pictures of Cupcake’s body on the table during the interview with Stallworth. Asked Stallworth’s reaction, Ross said, “He kept pushing them away.”

“Though all these interviews, my client has told you he had no interest sexually in a child and that he would never harm a child, correct?’’ Collins said.

Sgt. Brown also testified Wednesday about interviews with Derick Brown.

A portion of that interview showed Stallworth’s girlfriend saying about her boyfriend, “I’ll lie on him if you want me to. I’m not fixing to sit here and go to jail for nobody.”

Dr. Daniel Dye, a forensic pathologist with the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiners Office, testified about the decomposed state of Cupcake’s body.

“Decomposition limits the autopsy,’’ Dye said. “The changes can mask some injuries.”

Dye testified that Cupcake had two small abrasions on her back, as well as abrasions on the back of left arm and elbow, which he described as blunt force injuries – either she hit something hard or something hard hit her, he said.

There were also three abrasions on her left buttock and thigh.

The autopsy also showed Cupcake had contusions – or bruises – on the right side of her forehead and face, which he said is consistent with something pushing against the area or being “held down and pressed against a hard object.”

All of those injuries, Dye said, happened while Cupcake was still alive.

Toxicology testing, Dye said, showed Cupcake had Trazodone – an anti-depressant for which Stallworth says he had prescription for sleep – Benadryl and methamphetamine in her system. Benadryl, he said, is used as a “cutting agent” with illicit drugs.

Again, Dye said, evidence indicates Cupcake was alive when she ingested the drugs.

Dye said he could not say what effect the drugs had on Cupcake but concluded, “Methamphetamine and Trazodone are part of the reason she died.”

Under cross examination, Dye acknowledged that there were no genital or anal injuries to Cupcake, nor any evidence found around her mouth area to indicate sexual abuse or trauma.

Testimony will continue Thursday, and the defense is expected to possibly begin presenting their case.