Christopher Wayne Madison charged in the strangling death of 11 year old missing Alabama girl, Amberly Alexis Barnett.
An Alabama man has been charged with murder after a missing 11-year-old girl was found strangled to death near the man’s home in Collinsville.
Christopher Wayne Madison, 33, was being held without bond following his arrest on a capital murder charge in the death of Amberly Alexis Barnett.
Amberly’s body was found on Saturday in a wooded area about 200 yards behind the suspect’s home.
Authorities say the girl disappeared on Friday at 6pm after last being seen at her aunt’s house WHNT reported.
Madison lives next door to Amberly’s aunt.
He was taken into custody over the weekend on a drug related offense before being charged with murder when Amberly’s body was recovered AJC reported.
‘I said my heart was shattered a few days ago. My heart is still shattered,’ DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said following the grim discovery.
The official did not divulge any specific details about Amberly’s death or Madison’s alleged involvement during a Monday afternoon press conference.
‘The road to justice for this sweet, innocent little girl is too important to release anything to jeopardize this investigation,’ he said.
Amberly’s mother posted a disconcerted message on Facebook after her daughter disappeared on Friday, saying someone had taken the girl from her aunt’s home.
‘Her phone was left behind and my baby takes it everywhere. Nothing in her phone indicated she was planning to leave!’ her mother Jonie wrote.
‘Amberly is the type to not do anything that she will get in trouble. She would not have ran away or make plans to go off somewhere.
‘A green SUV was seen leaving the driveway!’
Madison is being held without bond following his arrest.
It remained unclear what prompted the 33 year old man to strangle the young girl. Also unclear is if the eleven year old had at all been sexually assaulted.
A GoFundMe page for Amberly had reached $7099 by Tuesday morning, EST.
***UPDATE***
A very sad ending today, the body of Amberly Alexis Barnett has been located by authorities. The investigation is ongoing and we will continue to update as we learn more. As always thank you all. Please keep friends and family in your prayers. #TheAwareFoundation pic.twitter.com/HUu3ceZPDe— The AWARE Foundation (@aware_the) March 2, 2019
DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden announced the arrest of Christopher Wayne Madison, 33, for capital murder in the death of Amberly Alexis Barnett, 11. Preliminary autopsy reports indicated the girl was strangled. pic.twitter.com/fLtT3FX2Nj
— Donna Thornton (@GT_DThornton) March 4, 2019
