Three Sentenced In Death Of 11-year-old A'Kyri Bell After Months Of Hidden Abuse In Myrtle Beach

What happened to A'Kyri Bell

A'Kyri Bell was 11 years old when she died on June 11, 2025, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Prosecutors say the abuse that led to her death did not happen in a single moment — it went on for months, behind closed doors, before it ended in blunt force trauma to her head. That timeline is why four adults connected to the house where she lived were charged, and why three of them have already been sentenced.

A'Kyri had been living with relatives at the time of her death. Her primary caregiver was Camisha McGaskey, who was later charged with — and convicted of — her murder. The home did not belong to McGaskey. It belonged to McGaskey's mother, according to WFXB, which reported that the mother is among several co-defendants still facing charges in connection with A'Kyri's death. Myrtle Beach sits in Horry County, where the case has been prosecuted by the 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office.

Two other adults were in that house while the abuse was happening: McGaskey's sister, Alexandria Thomas, and Thomas's boyfriend, Darnell Dearmas. The couple had their own infant child living there with them. Neither Thomas nor Dearmas has been accused of causing A'Kyri's death — both were charged over keeping their own child in that home while the abuse was going on.

The caregiver convicted of her murder

McGaskey's trial began with jury selection on Oct. 19, 2026, in Conway, South Carolina, in front of Circuit Court Judge David Caraker. She faced a wide set of charges tied to A'Kyri's death: murder, obstruction of justice, trafficking of minors and criminal conspiracy, according to WPDE.

The trial ran five days. Last month, a jury convicted McGaskey of murder and obstruction of justice. Judge Caraker sentenced her to life in prison, plus 10 consecutive years.

The murder and obstruction charges were resolved at that trial, but the trafficking of minors charge was not. McGaskey and a second defendant, Margaret Roberson, still face trafficking charges connected to five children, including A'Kyri, according to WMBF. The 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office said it hopes to bring that case to trial in March 2027 — more than a year and a half after A'Kyri's death.

"Thomas and Dearmas should not even be in the same breath as Camisha McGaskey," — Jimmy Richardson, 15th Circuit Solicitor, to WMBF.

The sister and boyfriend who testified against her

Alexandria Thomas and Darnell Dearmas both pleaded guilty to a single charge: unlawfully placing a child at risk. The charge was not about A'Kyri. It was about their own infant son, who lived in the same home while the abuse was happening — prosecutors charged the two parents over exposing their own child to that danger, not over A'Kyri's death.

Thomas pleaded guilty in exchange for testifying against her sister at McGaskey's murder trial. She was sentenced Monday, Nov. 9, to 10 years in prison, suspended to the 445 days she had already served, followed by three years of probation — probation that can be cut to two years if she avoids any violations.

Dearmas pleaded guilty on the same terms and also testified for the prosecution. On Thursday, Nov. 12, he received the identical sentence Thomas did: 10 years suspended to time already served, plus three years of probation, reducible to two for good behavior. Neither Thomas nor Dearmas was sent to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

What the solicitor said in court

15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson, whose office prosecuted the case, drew a sharp line between McGaskey and the two relatives who testified against her. Thomas and Dearmas "should not even be in the same breath as Camisha McGaskey," he told WMBF.

Richardson also explained, on the record, why neither Thomas nor Dearmas faced a more serious charge for not reporting the abuse they were living alongside. "This is a real hard thing for any of us to wrap our heads around because we have a moral duty to help each other. But unless you are a statutory reporter, the law doesn't make you protect other people," he told WPDE.

Richardson continued: "The only thing that they really did was put their own child, which they were accountable for, at unreasonable harm by being in that house. And that's what they were charged with." He said Thomas and Dearmas were under no legal obligation to report the abuse because neither was A'Kyri's legal guardian — though he added that they still should have said something to authorities.

The co-defendants still waiting for their day in court

McGaskey's mother owned the home where A'Kyri lived and where the abuse took place. WFXB reported that she is among several co-defendants charged in connection with A'Kyri's death whose cases have not yet gone to trial or been resolved.

One of those remaining co-defendants is Margaret Roberson, who along with McGaskey faces the separate trafficking of minors charge connected to five children, A'Kyri among them. The solicitor's office has not said what, if anything, that case means for the other relatives still facing charges.

Where the accounts differ

Local outlets do not agree on every detail of Dearmas's sentence. WPDE reported that his sentence was suspended to 445 days already served. WMBF and WCIV both put that number at 458 days. Neither outlet has corrected the other, so both figures appear here.

The coverage also differs on Dearmas's age and the spelling of his name. A WPDE photo caption lists him as 20 years old; other reporting on the case describes him as 21. WFXB and WMBF spell his last name "Dearmas"; WPDE and WCIV spell it "Dearmus." This article uses "Dearmas."

What happens next

The next scheduled event is the trafficking of minors trial for Camisha McGaskey and Margaret Roberson, tied to five children including A'Kyri Bell, which the 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office says it hopes to hold in March 2027. The charges against McGaskey's mother, who owned the home where the abuse took place, remain unresolved, and no court date has been reported for her or any other remaining co-defendants.