LIVINGSTON, Texas — Court records obtained by KHOU 11 News reveal new details in the death of Audrii Cunningham whose body was recovered from the Trinity River Tuesday after a desperate six-day search.
WARNING: This story contains details that some may find disturbing.
According to court records, when divers found Audrii, her body was attached to a large rock that was tied on with a rope. It was consistent with rope seen in McDougal's vehicle during a traffic stop before Audrii vanished, records show. An autopsy is being done in Harris County to determine how the 11-year-old Livingston girl died.
On Wednesday, family friend Don Steven McDougal, 42, was charged with capital murder and denied bond in connection with Audrii's death.
McDougal, who lives in a camper behind Audrii's home, was on law enforcement's radar from the beginning. He was supposed to take her to the bus stop the morning of Feb. 15. When she didn't come home from school that afternoon, her family learned she'd never gotten on the bus or arrived at Creekside Elementary. They reported her missing and an AMBER Alert was issued.
On Friday, McDougal was arrested on an unrelated aggravated assault charge. While in the Polk County Jail, he was questioned multiple times about Audrii's disappearance.
The charging document says cellphone records and video surveillance of McDougal's 2003 Chevrolet Suburban led them to the area under the Trinity River bridge near State Hwy 59 where Audrii's body was eventually found. The same records and video also proved that McDougal lied about his whereabouts and activities on the day Audrii disappeared, according to the document.
Searchers were initially focused on a southern area of Lake Livingston because McDougal claimed that's where he went after he dropped Audrii off at the bus stop. On Friday, they found a wet backpack believed to be Audrii's in that area.
McDougal's criminal history
Records show McDougal has a lengthy criminal history that dates back to 2001 when he was charged with possession of marijuana out of Liberty County. The following year, he was hit with an assault of a public servant charge.
- In 2003, he was charged with possession of a dangerous drug in Liberty County.
- In 2005, he was arrested in Baytown for evading arrest or detention.
- In 2006, he was charged with possession of a controlled substance and theft by the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
- In 2007, he was convicted of enticing a minor with intent out of Brazoria County.
- In 2009, he was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle in Baytown.
- In 2010, he was charged by HCSO for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
- In 2014, he was charged with theft and reckless driving by HCSO.
- In 2019, the Liberty County Sheriff's Office charged him with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.
- In 2020, HCSO charged him with harassment.
- In 2023, Conroe police charged him with resisting arrest.
Records show that McDougal served two years in prison in Huntsville between September 2020 and September 2022.
According to court documents, McDougal stabbed a man in the back last August in Polk County. The victim said McDougal and a woman he knew came to his home to ask for help and claimed his car battery was dead. The victim was jumping the car when McDougal stabbed him from behind, according to court records.
After Audrii went missing, the victim recognized McDougal as his alleged attacker and contacted the Polk County Sheriff's Office. They charged McDougal and locked him up in jail while the search for Audrii continued.
Before Audrii's body was found, McDougal was identified by authorities as the "main person of interest."
In a news conference on Monday, Lyons said McDougal was likely the last person to see Audrii alive and that he admitted to leaving the house with her.
Lyons also confirmed that McDougal has ties to the Aryan Brotherhood.