BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The man and woman accused of kidnapping and murdering a 3-year-old girl in Birmingham nearly three years ago will not face the death penalty in federal court, prosecutors said Thursday.

In a notice filed in the Northern District of Alabama Thursday, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and her team announced that the state would not seek the death penalty against either Patrick Stallworth, 42, or Derick Irisha Brown, 31. While both Stallworth and Brown are facing state capital murder and kidnapping charges in the death of Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney, they are only facing kidnapping charges in federal court.

McKinney was 3-years-old when she was kidnapped from the Tom Brown Village housing project during a party on October 12, 2019. Within a couple of days, Stallworth and Brown were brought in and questioned in the case.

On October 22, 2019, the Birmingham Police Department had confirmed that McKinney’s remains were found in a landfill that had come from a dumpster at an apartment in Center Point where Stallworth and Brown had been arrested. An examination of McKinney uncovered that she had died from asphyxiation.

Stallworth and Brown were charged with capital murder and taken to the Jefferson County Jail. On July 29, 2020, the couple were indicted on federal charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap a minor.

Stallworth and Brown are facing life in prison on their federal charges. However, they are still facing the possibility of the death penalty in state court due to being charged with capital murder.

They are scheduled to have a pre-trial hearing on June 22. No trial dates have been set for either their state or federal charges.