11-year-old Audrii Cunningham’s cause of death released

A medical examiner on Thursday released the cause of death of a young girl found dead in the Trinity River in Texas earlier this week.
11-year-old Audrii Cunningham's cause of death released A medical examiner on Thursday released the cause of death of a young girl found dead in the Trinity River in Texas earlier this week. (Polk County Sheriff's Office/Polk County Sheriff's Office)

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A medical examiner on Thursday released the cause of death of a young girl whose body was found in the Trinity River in Texas earlier this week.

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The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office said that Audrii Cunningham’s cause of death was from “homicidal violence with blunt head trauma,” according to KPRC.

The 11-year-old was found tied to a rock in the Trinity River after a search that lasted nearly a week, KTRE reported.

Authorities began searching for Audrii last week after she didn’t get on her school bus. She was last seen near her home around 7 a.m. on Feb. 15. On Tuesday, Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons confirmed that officials had found her body in the Trinity River near U.S. Highway 59.

Don Steven McDougal, 42, was charged with capital murder in Audrii’s death after investigators determined that he had lied several times about his whereabouts and actions on Feb. 15, court records show.

McDougal was supposed to take Audrii to the bus stop when she disappeared, The Associated Press reported.

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