A woman who was assaulted as a child by 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham‘s alleged killer has spoken out about her own nightmare ordeal – breaking down in tears as she realized how close she could have been to facing the same fate as the slain girl.
Carissa Davis, now in her 20s, was 10 years old in March 2007 when Don McDougal assaulted her during a family gathering at her uncle’s house in Brazonia County, Texas, ABC 13 reported.
McDougal’s sisters were friends of her family and brought him along, she told the outlet.
Carissa Davis, a victim of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham’s alleged killer, speaks out about her assault in 2007. KTRK
Davis was 10 years old when McDougal attacked her during a family gathering. KTRK
“He came into the room that me and my cousin were sleeping in,” Davis told ABC 13.
She said McDougal pilled her cousin from their bed and jumped in with her.
“(He) tried to take down my pants, and I immediately jumped up at that moment,” Davis told the outlet. “I remember looking at him. I was like, ‘Do you know how old I am?’”
She said she ran to the door but that the fiend chased after her.
Don McDougal is charged with capital murder. Polk County Sheriff’s Office
“He grabbed me, and when he did, I just swung my arm, and I hit him,” Davis recounted, adding that he kept pursuing her but she managed to alerted her aunt before he located her.
Davis said she immediately recognized McDougal when the brute’s photo appeared after Audrii’s disappearance. She now wonders what would have happened had she not fled from him that night.
Audrii Cunningham, the 11-year-old girl whose body was found tied to a rock in a Texas river, died of “homicidal violence including blunt head trauma.”
“Everybody was still asleep. I mean, my uncle’s backyard was the woods. I mean, it could have been me,” she told the outlet.
McDougal was convicted of enticing a child in connection with the incident when he pleaded no contest to two counts, KHOU 11 reported, citing court records.
Audrii Cunningham Facebook / Joshua Cunningham
He received a two-year prison sentence, but Davis said she believes he should have remained behind bars for much longer.
“I think Brazoria County definitely failed me and failed Audrii and possibly more,” she told ABC 13, noting that he wasn’t required to register as a sex offender.
Don McDougal KRIV
McDougal has been charged with capital murder in the death of Audri, whose body was found tied to a rock at the bottom of the Trinity River six days after she disappeared.
The Livingston, Texas, girl died of “homicidal violence including blunt head trauma,” according to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Audrii was reported missing Feb. 15, after she never made it onto her school bus and failed to show up to class. She was last seen with McDougal, a family friend, officials said.
The frantic search for Audrii turned up a Hello Kitty backpack believed to be the child’s was found on the river bank days before her remains were recovered. AP
Investigators believe she was killed the same day she was reported missing.
McDougal was living on the family’s property in a camper, according to charging documents.
He would often walk Audrii to her bus stop before allegedly murdering the young girl and dumping her body in the river while she was tied to a large rock.
The suspect is a reported neo-Nazi with links to the Aryan Brotherhood and is seen in photos with a swastika tattoo on his right arm.
He was arrested on an unrelated assault charge Feb. 16, and was still in Polk County Jail by the time Audrii’s body was found, records showed.
He is now being held without bond.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2024/02/23/us-news/past-victim-of-audri-cunninghams-alleged-killer-says-it-could-have-been-me/