Authorities tell PEOPLE that Audrii Cunningham, 11, died from a blow to the head. He was found dead in a river five days after going missing in Texas.
People was told by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences that she died of “homicidal violence” and that she was killed.
When asked about other possible injuries, institute officials did not say anything. People in Livingston, Texas, told the police that Audrii was missing on February 15 when she didn’t show up to school.
The man who killed her, Don Steven McDougal, 42, was charged with first-degree murder, the police said.
The day after Audrii went missing, McDougal was arrested on a separate assault charge. However, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office quickly named him a person of interest.
Audrii’s body was found on February 20. The next day, Polk County police charged McDougal with capital murder in connection with her death, according to the sheriff’s office.
People looked at the charging document and it says that the police found Audrii’s body tied to a “large rock” with a rope that was “consistent” with the rope that had been found in the suspect’s car days before.
Authorities say that McDougal was the last person seen with Audrii, and they had previously trusted him with her care. CNN cited authorities as saying that he lived in a trailer on Audrii’s family’s land.
ABC 13 reported that Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said McDougal told police that he left the house with Audrii on the morning she disappeared but wouldn’t give any other information.
According to court records seen by FOX 26, KHOU 11, and Click 2 Houston, McDougal has been convicted of enticing a child in the past.
It’s not clear if McDougal has hired a lawyer to speak for him.
