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8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle died a brutal death after her mom was lured to Walmart in June 2013. 61-year-old Donald James Smith had promised to buy Perrywinkle’s family food and clothing if they would agree to meet his wife at the Jacksonville location.

People reports, “Cherish’s mother, Rayne Perrywinkle, initially declined to go with Smith, but he allegedly said that his wife had a $100 Walmart card and they would meet her at the store. Rayne Perrywinkle told police that she told him, ‘I don’t usually go with strangers, but if your wife is coming, then it’s OK.’ Perrywinkle was unaware that Smith was not married and that he was on the Florida sex offender registry. He had been released from prison just 21 days earlier.”

At some point during the trip to Walmart, little Cherish “vanished” and surveillance showed the little girl leaving with Smith. Cherish’s mother reportedly told 911 operators, “I hope to God he doesn’t kill her and I hope to God he doesn’t rape her.” Cherish was found the next morning, dead and half-naked in the same orange dress she’d worn to Walmart.

People reports: “Medical Examiner Valerie Rao testified that Cherish had sustained severe injuries from being strangled, tortured and raped. ‘Cherish did not die quickly, and she did not die easily,’ she told jurors. ‘In fact, hers was a brutal and tortured death.’”

As for his criminal history, Smith has been harming kids for a very long time. “In 1977, he was convicted of lewd and lascivious behavior on a child under 16. In 1993, he was sentenced to five years in prison for the attempted kidnapping of a minor. He is registered as a sex offender. Last year he pleaded guilty to attempted impersonation of a public employee and attempted child abuse by mental harm.  He spent a year in jail and was released just three weeks before Cherish was found dead,” People states.

Click here to see photos of Cherish. We hope and pray that the Perrywinkle family is able to find peace they deserve.

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Man Sentenced To Death For What He Did To An 8-Year-Old Girl He Met At Walmart  was originally published on globalgrind.com