Judge denies "Cupcake" McKinney murder suspect's death penalty request
A Jefferson County judge has denied Patrick Stallworth's motion to declare Alabama's death penalty unconstitutional.
Stallworth and co-defendant Derick Brown are facing capital murder charges in the 2019 fatal kidnapping of Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney.
Stallworth's attorney filed the request on Sept. 25, arguing the sentence is cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th and 14th Amendments of the Alabama and U.S. Constitutions.
Judge Alaric May denied the motion Monday afternoon.
Stallworth and Brown were already convicted on fatal kidnapping charges in federal court and sentenced to life in prison back in March.
Federal Judge Scott Coogler sentenced Stallworth first, saying the sentence is less than appropriate. Stallworth's attorney had argued that life without parole violates the Eighth Amendment, which offers protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Judge Coogler overruled that objection. "If I had the ability to do more, I would. But I can't," Coogler said from the bench.
Brown issued a statement to McKinney's family: "If I could go back in time to that terrible day and change the outcome, I would. I wish I was courageous enough to prevent this tragedy. All I keep coming back to is I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I hope that one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
The prosecutor read a statement from McKinney's mother: "For some people, it is just evil and darkness, and that is exactly who you are. People like you do not deserve forgiveness."
Following the hearing, McKinney's mother, April Thomas, sat with us for an exclusive interview about her reaction to the punishment Brown and Stallworth received.
"They don't deserve to be breathing right now. I feel that they deserve the harshest. They deserve cruel and unusual punishment. They get three hot meals in a cot. That鈥檚 unfair," Thomas said.
She is prepared to hear a repeat of the graphic testimony in the duo's upcoming capital murder trial in state court.
"I wouldn't care if it's rain, sleet, snow. I'm going to sit there because I deserve to know, and I deserve to see the folks who did it what they did be punished," Thomas said.
Brown and Stallworth's capital murder trial is set to begin next April.
