10-Year-Old Girl Beaten to Death by Troubled "Brother" : Kiaya Campbell & Aidan Zellmer

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kiaya Campbell with me today. In June 2017, 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell vanished after walking with a 15-year-old acquaintance, her father’s girlfriend’s son. A massive search effort was launched. Hours later, Kiaya’s body was found in a drainage ditch. She had been brutally beaten to death, struck at least five times in the head with a metal pipe before being left there to die.Police quickly identified the teen as a suspect. Overwhelming evidence, including blood on his clothing and surveillance footage, contradicted his initial story of a rainstorm separation. He was charged with first-degree murder, ultimately tried as an adult, and pleaded guilty in early 2019.In March 2019, the teen, who was just 15 at the time of the crime, was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 40 years.This harrowing case forces us to grapple with the unimaginable: how a child’s life was so violently stolen by another child, and raises urgent questions about juvenile justice, trauma, and the depths of human cruelty.