An Alabama man joined the search party for a missing 11-year-old girl after he strangled her to death, police say.
Christopher Wayne Madison, 33, allegedly suffocated Amberly Alexis Barnett with a rope in woods 200 yards behind his home in Collinswood on March 2.
Hours later, he then pretended to help find the child after she vanished while staying with her aunt, tto no avail.  The next morning officers then found Barnett’s body with the rope around her neck, AL.com reported.
Madison was then arrested and charged with capital murder, after evidence from the crime implicated him.
He now faces the death penalty.

DeKalb County investigator David Davis testified on Monday that Madison said he searched the woods near his home and couldn’t find her.
When police showed Madison’s girlfriend a picture of the blue rope that was found around Barnett’s neck, the woman said the rope had been inside their home the day before, according to Davis’ testimony.
Another piece of blue rope was found wrapped around a knife in the backyard of Madison’s home, Davis testified. In interviews with investigators, Madison admitted the knife was his.
Inside the mobile home investigators also found a clamp and bolt in the floor used in ‘bondage’ activity, blood spatters.

Amberly Barnett was living with her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend in the Mount Vernon community of DeKalb County since last summer. Te suspect lived nearby in a mobile home

Amberly Barnett was from Georgia, but she had been living with her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend in the Mount Vernon community of DeKalb County since last summer.
Madison lived with his girlfriend in the mobile home next door. Madison’s girlfriend and the boyfriend of Barnett’s aunt are siblings.
Barnett stayed home alone while her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend went shopping on March 1, Chief investigator David Davis said during Monday’s court hearing.

When the family returned, Barnett was missing. The sheriff’s office was called to the scene at around 7.30 pm.
Madison said that he had already checked the woods behind his home and did not find the girl, AL.com reported.
Officers found Barnett’s body at 6.30 am the next morning after extensive searches throughout the night.

Authorities found a sock which is believed to be Barnett’s along a path where her body had been dragged.
They also claimed there was blood in the bathroom sink and on the walls, mattress, bed frame and on a sheet of paper in a bedroom inside Madison’s home.
Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the killing.
Madison’s girlfriend was shown a picture of the blue rope that was found around Barnett’s neck and she claimed the same rope had had been inside their home the day before.

‘I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.  Come and do it to me. Don’t do it to her. Don’t take my baby,’ Amberly’s grieving mother Jonie Barnett [photo, left], said

Another piece of blue rope was found wrapped around a knife in the backyard of Madison’s home, Davis testified. Madison admitted the knife was his, according to investigators.

The results of forensic testing to be performed on the blood and other evidence found at the scene are not yet known.
The evidence also includes a black hair that was found on Barnett’s body, Davis testified.
Madison faces either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted of capital murder.
When his arrest was announced earlier this month, Amber’s heartbroken mother Jonie claimed that her daughter loved science, and was caring and smart.

The victim’s mother Jonie Barnett told WSB-TV: ‘Nobody should bury their 11-year-old child. Nobody should have hurt her.
‘I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.  Come and do it to me. Don’t do it to her. Don’t take my baby,’ she added.

Christopher Madison is facing the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of capital murder in the death of Amberly Barnett

Alabama court records don’t show a criminal record for Madison, a transplant from Polk County, Georgia where he does’nt appear to have a criminal history.

However, a woman in DeKalb County, Alabama last year sought a protection from abuse order against Madison. In court records, the woman alleged that Madison had hit her in the head with a hammer, punched her in the face, smacked her head on the floor and strangled her to the point she passed out. A judge dismissed the petition when the woman and Madison failed to show up for a court hearing.
If convicted of capital murder, Madison faces either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.