Tennessee girl, 12, accused of strangling 8-year-old nephew to death after argument over iPhone

A 12-year-old Tennessee girl has been charged with murder, accused of strangling her 8-year-old cousin while the younger girl slept. A family member said they were arguing over an iPhone.

A security camera captured the killing in the bedroom they shared in Humboldt, Tennessee, on July 15, the prosecutor said.

The recording shows the older child using bedding to strangle her cousin while the younger girl slept in the top bunk, according to the affidavit filed by Gibson District Attorney Frederick Agee. After the child died, “the minor cleaned the victim and repositioned her body,” Agee said.

The victim’s mother, Rayana Smith, told CBS affiliate WREG-TV in Memphis that the girls were arguing over an iPhone after they had come from out of town to stay with their grandmother. She identified her daughter as 8-year-old Demeria Hollingsworth.

The 12-year-old girl was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence after authorities obtained the video on Wednesday.

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

He said he would petition the judge to prosecute the girl, who turns 13 later this month, in adult court, which would give him “a longer sentence, either in the form of incarceration or supervised release with conditions imposed by the court.”

Smith told WREG-TV she is hoping for the maximum sentence.

“The last time I saw my baby, she was smiling, blowing me kisses, telling me she’d see me when it was time to come home. She never came back. She never came back,” Smith told the station.

As of Monday morning, Smith had raised more than $14,000 through a GoFundMe campaign.

“I never expected something like this to happen and now I’m trying to fund a funeral,” GoFundMe said.