An alleged accomplice in the slaying of a 3-year-old Lousiana girl claims the victim and her older sister were alive the last time she saw them.

A public defender said in court in Jackson, Mississippi, that Victoria Cox was on her way to the city when she was arrested and that she had no idea anything had happened to Erin Brunett or her 6-year-old sister, TV station KPLC reported Monday

Cox, 32, also maintains that both girls were alive the last time she saw them, the lawyer reportedly said.

Cox's last known address is a house on the same road in rural Loranger, Louisiana, where the girls lived with their mother, Callie Brunett, TV station WDSU reported Monday.

Brunett's father found her fatally stabbed and her daughters missing from their house on Thursday.

Erin's body was found later that day in a wooded area outside Jackson.

Her older sister was found nearby, injured but alive.

On Monday, Jackson Police Joseph Wade said Erin appeared to have been suffocated or asphyxiated because he didn't see "any gunshot wounds or anything like that" on her body.

Cox and Brunett's former boyfriend, Daniel Callihan, 36, were arrested separately in Mississippi and charged with capital murder and sexual battery.

Callihan has also been charged in Lousiana with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and aggravated kidnapping.

On Friday, Callihan told reporters that "I did it" and "I have no reason for what I did."

Callihan also said he's been diagnosed with "borderline multiple personality disorder" and was "sober and only on Lexapro," an antidepressant medication.

Cox didn't speak to reporters as she was escorted from court on Monday.

Callihan and Cox are both being held in Mississippi without bail and Callihan was charged Monday by federal authorities in Jackson with kidnapping.