Young girl’s death in Carolina Forest homicide, coroner says. 3 charged in case
The death of an 11-year-old girl in Carolina Forest is being investigated as a homicide.
A’Kyri Bell was identified by the Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard as dying from multiple blunt force injuries. She was transported to Grand Strand Carolina Forest emergency room where she died, Willard said in an email.
The young girl lived in Texas but was believed to be staying with her father’s cousin, Willard said.
Three women are being charged with obstruction of justice following the girl’s death last week.
Lakesha Burnett, 34; Alantis Thomas, 21; and Camihsa McGaskey, 31, were each charged with one count of obstruction of justice in the case. The trio were booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Thursday morning and subsequently released into home detention with $5,000 bonds.
Horry County Police arrest warrants for the women say that they obstructed justice when they “prevented, impeded, or interfered a law enforcement investigation by providing known false statements and attempting to obscure and destroy evidence related to the death of a juvenile victim.”
The warrants say that the physical evidence in question includes mops, towels and bedding, which officers discovered in trash bags within the home. These items tested “presumptively positive for blood,” according to the warrants.
Police responded to a call last Wednesday that brought them to Sago Palm Drive, near Legends Drive and Highway 501 in Carolina Forest, where they were needed to help EMS with an unresponsive patient.
The girl was then taken to the hospital where she died of head injuries, according to a police report.
The suspicious death is being investigated for non-negligent manslaughter and murder, The Sun News previously reported.
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 12:11 PM.
