Teen charged over girl found in landfill
Court appearance for 17-year-old scheduled for Friday
 |  Milagro Cunningham |
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 Two police officers tell how the found the girl buried under boulders.
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LAKE WORTH, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida teenager accused of kidnapping an 8-year-old girl, cramming her into a recycle bin and leaving her at an abandoned landfill was indicted Thursday on adult charges of attempted murder, kidnapping and rape.
Milagro Cunningham, 17, who initially told authorities the girl had been kidnapped from the home where both were staying last weekend, was being moved from a juvenile detention center to the Palm Beach County Jail.
Cunningham could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on all counts.
A grand jury Thursday charged him with six counts: attempted first-degree murder, attempted felony murder, sexual battery on a child under 12, aggravated child abuse, kidnapping, and molestation.
Authorities said he would make his first court appearance Friday.
The girl's mother, who was not named to protect her child's identity, released a statement through her attorney saying she was "elated" over the grand jury's indictment.
"She wanted to make sure that the punishment fit the crime. If he was tried as a minor, it would have been a slap on the wrist," the statement said.
The girl's godmother had taken in Cunningham in recent months.
Both the girl and Cunningham were staying at the godmother's home Saturday night and authorities believe Cunningham took the girl after she fell asleep.
He initially told authorities that the girl had been abducted and that her kidnappers fled in a car, resulting in an initial police search in a different part of town.
But authorities said the teen had several inconsistencies in his story and they kept him close at hand during the search.
Eventually, the girl was found alive in a nearby abandoned landfill, her body stuffed in a recycle bin and buried beneath a heap of concrete and stones. She is still recovering in a hospital.
Authorities said the girl was able to name her attacker shortly after being found.
She also asked for a pastor to "thank God for saving her life," according to the girl's godmother.
CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this report.
