Quatisha Maycock was still clad in her Polly Pocket pajamas when Harrel Braddy abandoned the 5-year-old in Florida’s Alligator Alley, leaving her to a terrifying fate at the hands of alligators, as revealed by prosecutors.

The chilling account of the child’s 1998 murder was presented on January 20 during Harrel’s re-sentencing trial. Jurors also listened to the emotional testimony of Quatisha’s grieving mother, Shandelle Maycock.

“She was intelligent. She was affectionate,” State Attorney Abbe Rifkin described the young girl to the jury, according to the Miami Herald. “She was as sweet as candy.”

In 2007, Harrel was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and other offenses related to Quatisha’s death, along with a brutal assault on Shandelle. He was initially given a death sentence. However, the U.S. Supreme Court deemed Florida’s death penalty law unconstitutional in 2017, leading to a reversal of his sentence, reported NBC Miami. With a revised law now in place, jurors will decide whether to impose a new death sentence on Harrel in this re-sentencing trial.

Shandelle Maycock Attacked by Harrel Braddy

Shandelle first crossed paths with Harrel and his wife through a church group, as the couple had extended their friendship to the young single mother.

“I am here if you need me. I am here,” Shandelle recalled during her testimony of what Harrel told her, per the news outlet. “Just like that, I am here.”

Harrel offered to help her out, giving her rides and lending her money, but the relationship took a dark turn the night of Nov. 6, 1998 when Harrel agreed to give Shandelle a ride to a family member’s house to pick up her daughter, according to court records.

When they returned to her apartment, Harrel stayed at the apartment until Shandelle told him that he needed to leave because she was expecting company—a lie she’d crafted to try to get away from Harrel.  

That’s when prosecutors say Harrel got angry and attacked Shandelle, throwing her to the ground, climbing on top of her and choking her.

“You used me,” Shandelle testified Harrel told her, according to NBC Miami.

He forced Shandelle and Quatisha into his rented, gold Lincoln Town Car and began to drive toward the Everglades. Fearing for her life, Shandelle tried to jump out of the car with her young daughter, but Harrel accelerated around a corner, dumping them both out of the vehicle, per the court records. He put Shandelle in the trunk and Quatisha into the backseat.

After driving for miles, he stopped and took Shandelle out of the trunk, then threw her to the ground, threatened to kill her and choked her until she lost consciousness, authorities said.

Shandelle testified that when she later regained consciousness, she was alone and disoriented. She found her way to the side of the road and was able to flag someone down for help. 

After dumping Shandelle, the state attorney told the jurors that Harrel, an avid hunter, then drove to a remote part of the Everglades he was familiar with known as Alligator Alley and left Quatisha there. Prosecutors aren’t sure whether he abandoned her along the side of the road in the dark or threw her into the water, according to the local paper.

Two fishermen stumbled on her body floating in the water the morning of Nov. 9, per the court records. A medical examiner determined that she’d suffered alligator bites to her torso and head while she was still alive. Her left arm had been bitten off after her death.

The state attorney argued in court that Harrel—who had an extensive criminal record—left her to die because he did not want the young girl to identify him.

“He silenced her by killing her,” she said. “He knew he couldn’t get caught. Not again.”

Harrel’s defense attorneys chose to delay their opening argument until they could begin to present evidence in the case.

The resentencing trial will continue this week. Under Florida’s 2023 law, the jury can recommend death by a majority of 8-4; however, the final sentence will be determined by a judge.