Kimberly Diane Cargill (born November 30, 1966) is an American woman sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of her son's mentally-challenged babysitter. On June 18, 2010, Cargill killed 39-year-old Cherry Walker by asphyxiation to prevent the victim from testifying against her in a child protective case; Cargill had dumped Walker's body, doused it in lighter fluid and set it on fire. Cargill was arrested and charged with capital murder within a month after the crime. Although Cargill claimed in her defense that Walker had died from a seizure and not due to homicidal violence, the jury found Cargill guilty of capital murder and sentenced her to death in 2012. As of 2026, Cargill is on death row at the Patrick O'Daniel Unit, with her execution date yet to be scheduled.
Personal life Kimberly Diane Cargill was born in Mississippi on November 30, 1966. A psychiatric report indicated that Cargill had been sexually molested by a family member at the age of 11. As an adult, Cargill was married three times and had four sons. Cargill divorced her first husband in December 1995. Her second marriage lasted from June 1996 until the early 2000s. Cargill married for the third time in 2005; this marriage also ended in divorce. According to Cargill's children and three ex-husbands, she was often abusive toward them. On one occasion, according to Cargill's third husband, with whom Cargill had her fourth son, he witnessed Cargill beat his young son from his first marriage on the face and knock the boy across the room, an incident which ultimately drove him to separate from and divorce Cargill. On another occasion, Cargill got upset with her third husband for eating some snacks, and they got into a fight that led to Cargill's third husband pushing her against the wall in self-defence; she then allegedly started a fire in his apartment. Cargill also abused her mother by choking her whenever she was upset and angry with her, and she allegedly did the same thing to two of her sons. She also regularly locked her sons in their rooms for hours.
Murder By 2010, Cargill had been placed under investigation by child protective services for child abuse allegations. In March 2010, Cargill's two younger sons, Luke and Zach, who were still in her custody, were removed and placed in the care of relatives. On May 18, 2010, Cargill failed to adhere to a voluntary agreement giving temporary custody of Luke to her mother, and did not return her son to her mother after retrieving him from day care. Cargill also faced a custody hearing on June 23, 2010. On June 18, 2010, 39-year-old Cherry Walker (October 24, 1970 – June 18, 2010), the mentally-challenged babysitter of Cargill's son, was served with a subpoena to testify at the custody hearing. Having learned of the subpoena, Cargill wanted to stop Walker from showing up at the hearing to testify, fearing the testimony might cost her custody of her son. On the day Walker received the subpoena, Cargill met up with her, taking advantage of Walker's distress over the prospect of coming to court as a witness and told Walker that she would hide her to ensure she would not testify. After bringing Walker out under the pretext of dinner, Cargill killed Walker by unknown means, resulting in Walker's death by asphyxiation. After the murder, Cargill abandoned Walker's body on the side of a rural road, eight to ten miles from Walker's apartment. Cargill doused Walker's clothes with lighter fluid and lit it on fire, burning Walker's body before she left the scene. Walker's body was found the next day, but took four days before it was identified. Within the same month, the police investigations identified Cargill as the prime suspect, and she was arrested and held in the Smith County Jail, where she was initially remanded for causing felony injury to a child. On July 31, 2010, Cargill was charged with capital murder, an offence that carries the death penalty under Texas state law.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
