What to know about the brutal killing of a SC 11-year-old as murder trial begins

National admin October 20, 2026 0 Comments

What to know about the brutal killing of a SC 11-year-old as murder trial begins

A woman who police say beat to death an 11-year-old girl in a gated South Carolina community headed to court on Monday to stand trial for the girl’s murder.

Camisha Marie McGaskey was 31 years old when police found 11-year-old A’Kyri Bell with multiple blunt force injuries inside a home on Sago Palm Drive in June 2025. The Horry County Police Department charged McGaskey with murder and obstruction of justice.

But the case continued to make headlines after an investigation between the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the HCPD found that Bell’s death was related to a human trafficking scheme in Horry County, police said.

Jury selection for McGaskey’s trial will begin on Oct. 19 in Horry County Circuit Court in Conway, with Circuit Court Judge David Caraker presiding over the trial.

Here’s what you need to know about the case.

What happened on Sago Palm Drive

Horry County Police were called to a home on Sago Palm Drive near Highway 501 and Legends Drive on June 11, 2025, to assist EMS with an unresponsive child. The child later died of head injuries at Grand Strand Carolina Forest emergency room.
The Horry County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 11-year-old A’Kyri Bell of Bay City, Texas, and ruled that she died from multiple blunt force injuries.
HCPD found seven other children inside the home who were removed and taken into protective custody.
The 911 call reporting Bell’s injuries came from inside of the house, HCPD Police Chief Kris Leonhardt said during a press conference on June 18, 2025.

How McGaskey became a suspect

Following Bell’s death, police charged McGaskey, Lakesha Burnett and Alantis Thomas each with obstruction of justice. The three were accused of “providing known false statements and attempting to obscure and destroy evidence related to the death of a juvenile victim.”
Those pieces of evidence included mops, towels and bedding that police found stuffed in trash bags inside the home, Leonhardt said during the conference. The items also tested “presumptively positive for blood,” according to arrest warrants.
About a week after Bell died, HCPD charged McGaskey with murder in the 11-year-old girl’s death.
An updated warrant said that McGaskey was Bell’s caregiver and that she inflicted the fatal blunt force injuries on the girl. Bell had been visiting the Myrtle Beach area from Texas, police said.

Bell’s death leads to new investigation

In late July 2025, Solicitor Jimmy Richardson announced that Bell’s death was tied to a human trafficking investigation in Horry County.
McGaskey and Margaret Roberson were each charged with five counts of trafficking in persons under 18 years of age, plus criminal conspiracy.
SLED and HCPD Investigators alleged that on or between Jan. 1 and June 11, 2025, five minor victims were “enticed, solicited, isolated, and or transported” by Roberson and McGaskey, police reports state.
The investigation found that the minors were subjected to forced labor, including cleaning services, at various medical centers in the Conway area, arrest warrants claim.
Richardson said investigators “naturally discovered” the trafficking details while probing Bell’s death, after asking why so many children were at the house.

More arrests in trafficking case

In August, HCPD announced that it had charged five people with unlawful conduct toward a child. McGaskey and Roberson each were also charged with three counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.
HCPD later arrested a sixth person, Alexandria Thomas, who police say witnessed McGaskey’s alleged abuse of Bell and did not intervene. Thomas was charged with placing a child in her charge at risk.
According to an arrest warrant, McGaskey allegedly used objects and her hands and feet to abuse Bell. Thomas was present and aware for multiple instances of the abuse but failed to take any action, arrest warrants claim.
Bell and the other children, who are believed to be related to her, were dropped off at the house by Bell’s father, Vernon Bell, police said.
Bell had been attending school at River Oaks Elementary School where she was enrolled from Jan. 13, 2025, through the end of the school year on June 6.

Alleged threats emerge

Reporting from The Sun News found that Bell’s case was one of more than 300 human trafficking investigations opened statewide in 2025. Horry County recorded 10 trafficking charges that year, nearly all tied to this case.
Alantis Thomas and Burnett were charged in February 2026 with with intimidation of a witness and assault and battery after police said they made threats toward Alexandria Thomas.
Alexandria Thomas had been providing information to police about Bell’s death when Alantis Thomas and Burnett allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill her.
A representative of the Solicitor’s Office told the court during the two’s bond hearing that videos exist of torture that went on in the home before Bell’s death, and that Alexandria Thomas was “legitimately in fear for her life.”

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.

This story was originally published October 19, 2026 at 1:48 PM with the headline “What to know about the brutal killing of a SC 11-year-old as murder trial begins.”