Girl, 12, ‘suffocates 8-year-old cousin to death, cleans victim, moves body’ as ‘murder’ is caught on camera

A 12-year-old girl has been charged with murder after her 8-year-old cousin died of apparent suffocation.

Prosecutors say there is video showing the incident in Humboldt, Tennessee, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis.

The teenager, who turns 13 next week, has been charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Officials say a video allegedly shows the teen strangling her niece Demeria Hollingsworth on July 15.

Prosecutors said the video came from a security camera at the home and the incident allegedly took place in the bunk bed the two children shared.

District Attorney General Frederick Agee said in a Facebook post on the office’s page that the teen tried to strangle the victim with bedsheets while she slept.

He added that the suspect then cleaned her niece and moved her body.

These children were together because they had spent the summer with their grandmother.

According to the victim’s mother, Rayana Smith, the problem between the girls started over an argument over an iPhone, Fox affiliate WXIN reported.

Smith shared emotional words as she remembered her daughter.

“She loved reading books, swimming, playing outside, riding her bike every day, playing with the neighborhood kids and playing with my friends’ kids,” she said.

“My baby was sweet.”

“She did nothing to deserve her life being taken,” the mother added.

“She was only 8 years old. She just turned 8 in April.”

According to WXIN, District Attorney General Agee said his office has filed a request with Juvenile Judge Mark Johnson to try the suspect as an adult.

“I consider this to be one of the most disturbing violent acts ever committed by an adult or minor that my office has prosecuted,” he wrote.

She did nothing to deserve her life being taken.”

Rayana SmithDemeria Hollingsworth’s mother

Agee said that under current state laws, if a suspect is found guilty, he or she is exempt from further detention when he or she turns 19 years old.

He added that neither the victim nor the suspect were from Humboldt.

The victim’s mother has set up a GoFundMe campaign for her daughter’s funeral.

“I never expected something like this to happen and now I’m trying to fund a funeral,” she wrote on the page.

According to CBS affiliate WREG, District Attorney General Agee said his office could no longer comment on the case due to a gag order issued by the court.

The court clerk reportedly could not comment on the case because it involved a minor under the age of 14.

The 12-year-old’s parents were not available for comment.