Re: anyone remember the anita cunningham murder in rosehill?
Date: February 18, 2019 06:40PM
Because Anita deserves to be remembered. And we need to remember that monsters and evil have always walked among us.
Anita was slightly older than me, but such events make a lasting impression on people. We need to learn from these events to help prevent future tragedies. I don't have any pictures of Anita, if anyone does please post. Here are the articles that summarized what happen.
Danville Register Newspaper
Thursday, August 28, 1975 - Page 8
FAIRFAX -- A 13year old Fairfax County girl reported missing Tuesday night was found dead Wednesday in a heavily wooded area near her home. Police said the nude body of Anita Cunningham was found Wednesday morning by several teenagers about 250 yards from the Prince Fairfax Apartments where she lived. The girl was lying face up and had a twine around her neck police said. Police said the girl's mother reported her missing shortly after 11 pm Tuesday when Anita did not return home from a recreation program at Rose Hill School. The cause of death has not been determined police said.
Winchester Evening Star Newspaper
Friday, October 17, 1975 - Page 3
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - A 17-year-old youth was held by Fairfax County police today for the August slaying of Anita Cunningham, 13. Her body was found in tall grass in a wooded area near her home at Franconia. County police said the youth was charged on a juvenile petition but a hearing was expected today on an effort by Commonwealth's Atty. Robert Horan to get the teen charged as an adult.
Winchester Evening Star Newspaper
Wednesday, March 24, 1976 - Page 2
FAIRFAX (AP) — The case of 17-year-old Michael McGinty accused in the murder of 13-year-old Anita Cunningham last August near Alexandria, was expected go to the jury today. McGinty is standing trial as an adult and will face a minimum 20 year prison term if found guilty. In court Tuesday, Fairfax County Police Sgt James Bruce testified that McGinty told him last October that he had called the girl up and asked to meet her in the woods the night of the murder. But McGinty told him, he and the girl had put their arms around each other when the girl blacked out. Rita Cunningham, the girl's mother, testified that Anita had told her she was going out to meet McGinty that night. An autopsy showed the girl had been sexually assaulted, although McGinty has not been charged with rape. Her nude both was found the next day in bushes near her home.
Winchester Evening Star Newspaper
Friday, March 26, 1976 - Page 2
FAIRFAX (AP) — A mistrial has been declared in the case of a 17-year-old youth charged with murdering a 13-year-old girl, after a jury deliberated for 10 hours but failed to reach a verdict. Fairfax Commonwealth's Atty Robert F Horan Jr. said a new trial for Michael McGinty would be held June 2. McGinty is accused of killing Anita Cunningham Aug. 26. He was one of two boys who found the girl’s battered, nude body in a wooded area of Fairfax County as part of a search party the day after she disappeared. Police said the girl had been strangled and sexually assaulted, but McGinty was tried only on murder charges. McGinty testified during the trial that he met Miss Cunningham the night she died. He said they were “horsing around in a wooded area near her apartment when she put her arms around him and passed out.
Danville Register Newspaper
Friday, March 26, 1976 - Page 5
FAIRFAX Va. (AP) -- Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Arthur Sinclair declared a mistrial in the case of Michael McGinty after a jury deliberated for ten hours but failed to reach a verdict on first degree murder charges against the 17-year-old. McGinty is accused of killing 13-year-old Anita Cunningham in a wooded area near her Rose Hill apartment Aug 26, 1975. He was one of two boys who found the girl’s battered nude body as part of the search party the day after she disappeared. Police said Anita had been sexually assaulted, but McGinty was tried only on murder charges. Fairfax County Commonwealths Atty Robert F Horan said a new trial would be held June 2. Horan had told the jury, "Some first-degree murders are worse than others. This one was worse than most." During the trial McGinty testified he met Miss Cunningham the night she died. He said they were horsing around in a wooded area near her apartment when she put her arms around him and passed out. Experts testified McGinty’s pubic hairs were found mixed with those of the Cunningham girl.
Winchester Evening Star Newspaper
Friday, April 09, 1976 - Page 2
FAIRFAX (AP) - A plea of guilty to a charge of second degree murder has been entered in Fairfax County Circuit Court by Michael McGinty in the strangulation death of 13-year-old Anita Cunningham, whose nude body was found in a wooded area near her home last Aug. 26. The girl had been sexually assaulted, police said. "I can't understand a child being beaten, raped, murdered and sodomized, and him getting off with second degree murder," said Mrs. Rita Cunningham, the girl’s mother. Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Atty Robert F. Horan said Thursday he would seek the maximum sentence of 20 years for McGinty, 19. A jury failed to reach a verdict last month on first degree murder charges against McGinty, and Judge Arthur Sinclair declared a mistrial and set a new trial date in June.
Danville Register Newspaper
Friday, April 09, 1976 - Page 5
FAIRFAX API Michael McGinty pleaded guilty Thursday to second degree murder for the strangulation death of 13 year old Anita Cunningham. Anita's nude body was found in a wooded area near her Rose Hill home in Fairfax County Aug 26. Police said the young woman had been sexually assaulted. "I cant understand a child being beaten raped murdered and sodomized and him getting off with second degree murder," said the child's mother Mrs. Rita Cunningham. Fairfax County Commonwealths Atty Robert F Horan said he would seek the maximum sentence 20 years for the charge. Last month a jury failed to reach a verdict on first degree murder charges against the youth. Fairfax County Judge Arthur Sinclair declared a mistrial and set a new trial date in June. Horan said he is not surprised by the plea. From the questions the jury asked they weren't hung up over guilt or innocence, but the degree of the charge. Horan said before accepting McGinty's plea, the judge told the youth he may well seek the maximum penalty in light of testimony at the trial. In Virginia second degree murder carries a sentence of five to 20 years of which five per cent must be served before parole can be considered. McGinty's attorney Stephen Hideout requested and was granted a mental exam for his client prior to sentencing. Horan's office said sentencing could be delayed for 30 to 45 days. At the trial McGinty admitted he met Miss Cunningham in the woods the night she was murdered. He said they were just horsing around when she blacked out. The teenager was part of a search party that found Anita's body the next day.
Winchester Evening Star Newspaper
Thursday, July 29, 1976 - Page 3
FAIRFAX (AP) -The mother of a 13-year-old girl who was sexual)- assaulted and strangled says her daughter's killer "owes me a debt and I will collect it if I die." Mrs. Rita Cunningham cried out the declaration Wednesday as she watched Michael McGinty, 18, receive a 20-year prison sentence from Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Arthur W. Sinclair The judge said he imposed the maximum sentence because it was "a duty I firmly believe I must fulfill." The northern Virginia teenager pleaded guilty to second » murder after a jury earlier this summer to reach a verdict during his first degree murder trial on the death of Anita Cunningham. The girl's naked, battered body was found in a wooded area near her apartment home last August The girl failed to return home from a neighborhood recreation center the night of Aug 26 Her body was found the folding morning by a group of searchers. Police said McGinty was one of the searchers. Mrs. Cunningham apologized to a court official for her outburst. "I'm sorry, but I knew I wouldn't get a chance to talk to him," she said. The victim's mother said. "There is too much emphasis placed on the age of the defendant, as if that's an excuse. The law is more concerned with what is best for the defendant. The victim is dead. Why worry about her?" Defense attorney Stephen B. Rideout had sought a lighter sentence, contending McGinty needed psychiatric help. He said McGinty's home life caused him emotional problems, because his mother and father have been married and divorced twice, have remarried and now are seeking a third divorce.
Danville Register Newspaper
Friday, July 29, 1976 - Page 19
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - Michael McGinty was given a 20-year-jail term Wednesday for murdering 13-year-old Anita Cunningham. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Arthur W. Sinclair gave the 18 year-old McGinty the maximum sentence because it "is a duty I firmly believe I must fulfill"
As the sentencing ended, the mother of the girl whose battered, nude body was found in a wooded area near her Rose Hill apartment last August stood up and called to McGinty. "He owes me a debt and I will collect it if I die," Rita Cunningham said as the bailiffs tried to silence her. "I'm sorry", she told a court official, "but I knew I wouldn't get a chance to talk to him."
Anita never returned home after walking to a neighborhood recreation center the night of Aug. 26. Fairfax Country Police said her body was discovered the next morning by a group of searchers that included McGinty. An autopsy found she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
McGinty pleaded guilty to second degree murder charges after a jury failed to reach a verdict on first degree murder charges against him. Defense attorney Stephen W. Rideout argued for a lighter sentence saying McGinty was in need of psychiatric help because of his family situation. The youth's parents have been married and divorced twice, and are in the process of obtaining their third divorce, Rideout said. They were not at the sentencing hearing.
Rideout read the judge a handwritten statement McGinty prepared, in which the youth said, "I can't say why I did what I did; I don't really know myself, I'm very sorry." In the statement, McGinty asked for psychiatric help.
Fairfax County Commonwealth's Atty. Robert Horan said, "I've never heard a pre-sentence report where the defendant didn't say, 'I'm sorry.' They all are when it comes time for sentencing." McGinty could be paroled in five years, Horan said.
With Mrs. Cunningham at the hearing was Sylvia Shalor, whose 16-year old son was murdered a year-and-a-half ago.