Why Audrii Cunningham Case May Be Hard To Crack

Getting a conviction in the Audrii Cunningham murder case may be difficult because the suspect was known to drop Cunningham off at the school bus or at school, an attorney told Newsweek.

Cunningham, an 11-year-old Texas girl who vanished on February 15 while on her way to school, was found dead on Tuesday, according to Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons.

“Audrii’s body was located at the Trinity River under US Highway 59,” Lyons said during a press conference on Tuesday evening.

42-year-old Don Steven McDougal of Livingston, Texas, has been charged with capital murder after the discovery of Cunningham’s body.

Police say his car was used to pick up Cunningham on the morning she disappeared.

Eric Anderson, an attorney at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae in Los Angeles, California, told Newsweek that getting a conviction may be difficult without a confession or further evidence.

“If the spotting of the car is the only reason the police are arresting him, it’s pretty weak evidence from the given history. If they interviewed him and he provided more information, that would make sense for an arrest. We need to find out if a search warrant was issued and new evidence was found,” Anderson said.

Anderson said that capital murder cases “are murder cases where capital punishment is a possible sentence” and so McDougal could be facing the death penalty if convicted.

McDougal is already in custody after he was arrested Friday on unrelated aggravated assault charges, according to the sheriff’s office.

Newsweek reached out via email on Wednesday to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) for comment. It has not yet been announced if McDougal has retained an attorney.

The criminal complaint against McDougal, which has been lodged in court, states that “video footage and cell phone data places McDougal at three locations of interest.”

That includes along the Trinity River.

The criminal complaint also states, “McDougal lied about his whereabouts and activities on the day of February 15, 2024.”

It also states that a rope used to tie Cunningham’s body to a rock in the river “was consistent with rope that was observed in McDougal’s vehicle on a traffic stop two days prior.”

McDougal, who is a friend of Audrii’s father, lives in a camper behind the residence where Audrii lived with her father, grandparents and other family, officials said. McDougal sometimes gave Audrii a ride to the bus stop or school.

Lyons said during a news conference that McDougal had told investigators that he left Audrii’s home with the girl on Thursday morning, but he refused to say whether he had dropped her off at the bus stop.

Audrii was last seen at roughly 7 a.m., just before she was supposed to leave for school. Her family reported her missing when she didn’t come home from school, prompting the police to issue an Amber Alert.

During the press conference, Lyons said that McDougal had not confessed to any crimes involving Audrii’s disappearance but said that he talked to investigators and provided information on multiple “places of interest.”

Authorities said that in 2008, McDougal was convicted of enticing a child in another county.

Police said in a statement that they believe his dark-colored 2003 Chevrolet Suburban was involved in Audrii’s disappearance.

Police Lieutenant Craig Cummings of the Polk County Department of Public Safety told a news conference on Monday that, while McDougal has previous convictions, he is not required to be on a sex offender register.

“We also want to address some rumors that have been circulating,” Cummings said.

“McDougal is not required to register as a sex offender. We would refer you to the various counties that prosecuted McDougal for inquiries regarding his criminal history. We also want to say that McDougal presides in a camper behind the residence where Audrii lives with her father, grandparents and other family,” KBTX TV in Texas reported.

While McDougal is a person of interest in the investigation, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons said they’re not ruling anyone else out.