Shaniya Davis UPDATE: Mother Released in Lieu of $51K Bond

by Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times

Antoinette Davis, the mother of little Shaniya Davis has been released from Central Women’s Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Black Urban Times spoke with a legal assistant at the office of her attorney, D.W. Bray and was told that Davis is still facing the original charges she was hit with when she was arrested last year: filing a false police report, resisting a public official (both misdemeanors), child abuse for the purpose of prostitution and human trafficking a child victim, both felonies.

See Antoinette Davis' Arrest Warrant Here

Sergeant Somerindyke at the Fayetteville Police Department told the Black Urban Times that Davis had been released on February 21 in lieu of a $51,000 bond and Cumberland County court official, Jennifer S. confirmed for the Black Urban Times that Davis’ next court date is scheduled for April 15.

Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, who was identified as the man seen carrying Shaniya Davis on a Comfort Suites Hotel security video in Sanford has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape and first-degree murder. He is still being held at the Central Prison in Raleigh.


Shaniya’s lifeless body was found on November 16, six days after her mother reported her missing. A subsequent autopsy ruled Shaniya’s cause of death as asphyxiation. The little girl, who was described by neighbors and relatives as a happy and loving child, had also been raped.

Police recovered Shaniya’s body after a tip from a “credible source” led them to a deserted area off of Highway 7 along Walker Road in Lee County.

Davis had been caring for Shaniya for approximately three weeks when she disappeared. Shaniya’s father, Bradley Lockhart, had allowed his daughter to return to Davis saying he wanted to give Davis a chance to be a mother again after a lengthy separation.


Lockhart, who works as a contractor, was out of the state working at the time his daughter disappeared from her mother’s Sleepy Hollow Drive mobile home in Fayetteville. He has since stated that he regrets his decision to return Shaniya to her mother although it appeared that Davis was getting her life together.

Police have theorized that Davis may have sold her daughter into sexual slavery to repay a drug debt she owed to McNeil. Initially, Davis accused Clarence Coe, a man described as Antoinette Davis' former boyfriend and the father of her unborn child, of taking Shaniya. He was arrested, but immediately released after security footage showed McNeil carrying Shaniya.

Coe told WRAL, “ I didn’t get due process. They didn’t even have probably cause to cause [sic] to arrest me.” He said he plans to sue the Fayetteville police.

See Coe's response to his arrest and the accusations made against him below



Several of Davis’ family members have said they do not believe Davis would harm any of her children nor do they believe she had anything to do with Shaniya’s murder.

Brenda Davis, 20, sister of Antoinette Davis said she does not believe the accusations police have made against her sister. “I don’t believe she could hurt her children,” said Brenda Davis.

Antoinette Davis’ aunt, Yvonne Mitchell added that Davis had two jobs and would never harm Shaniya.

McNeil’s girlfriend, April Autry told reporters that she had never noticed any signs of abuse on the daughter she and McNeil share together and that she was shocked at the charges police have hit McNeil with.

See the video of Autry’s interview below.



With 1500 people in attendance at Shaniya’s funeral, which was paid for by NBA star Shaquille O’Neil, Shaniya’s father bid a tearful goodbye to his daughter.

“Shaniya, Daddy love you, honey [sic]. And I know you’re gonna’ be waiting for me…I’ll see you when I get there.” Surrounded by family and friends, Lockhart stood at Shaniya’s grave site and released white doves into the winter air in memory of his baby girl.

Shaniya Davis was five-years-old.


RELATED STORIES ON SHANIYA DAVIS

Shaquille O'Neil Pays For Shaniya Davis' Funeral
Shaniya: A Young Life Interrupted
Bradley Lockhart Lost Wife, Sister-in-Law in Tragic Murder
Mother of Missing Child Arrested
New Charges Await Jurisdiction Decision
Pregnant Antoinette Davis Being Housed in Special Unit at County Jail
Body of Shaniya Davis Has Been Found
Shaniya's Family Speaks
Police Release Surveillance Tapes

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UPDATE: 'Reliable Information' Indicates Child is Dead

By Alicia Cruz
Editor-in-Chief
Theblackurbantimes

Acting upon "reliable information," Fayetteville police along with residents are now searching for the body of Shaniya Davis.

The search has become focused on an area in Sanford, North Carolina because the "reliable information" the police received states that the body of Shaniya Davis may have been dumped in that location.


Police have charged Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, with human trafficking among other offenses. Davis was "prostituting her child," said Fayetteville police spokeswoman Theresa Chance.

The mother told police last week that the child vanished from their mobile home in Fayetteville.

The man caught on a Hotels surveillance video with Shaniya Davis in his arms is Mario Andrette McNeill. He has been charged with first-degree kidnapping and is being held in jail.






TIMELINE OF EVENTS SURROUNDING THE CASE


TUESDAY, November 10, 2009

3:00 AM: Neighbor, Andrea Moore, described hearing noises outside her mobile home

5:30 AM: Mother put Shaniya Davis on sofa and last time she saw her child

6:11 AM: Shaniya observed on survellience video at hotel 40 miles from home in the arms of Mario McNeill waiting on elevator

6:53 AM: Antoinette Davis calls LE to report her daughter missing

• Law enforcement search the mobile home park and find a blanket covered in feces in garbage pail of neighbor, Andrea Moore. Blanket believed to be that of Shaniya. Theresa Chance, Fayetteville Police spokesperson stated Ms. Moore is not a suspect.

• Back porch and railing of home Davis family lives in is covered in feces.

• Ms. Davis, her 7-year-old son, Davis' sister and another child are removed from the home and not allowed to return due to extensive sewage leak.

• The N.C. Offender Registry lists two sex offenders who live in the mobile home park.

WEDNESDAY, November 11, 2009

• Clarence Coe, boyfriend of Antoinette Davis, is arrested for the kidnapping of Shaniya. Reports provided to LE state he was seen leaving the mobile home park with Shaniya.

• Clarence Coe said he did not take Shaniya.

THURSDAY, November 12, 2009

• Still images from a Sanford hotel survellience video aired nationally of Mario Andrette McNeill, ex-boyfriend of Antoinette Davis' SISTER, carrying Shaniya Davis to the hotel's elevator.

FRIDAY, November 13, 2009

• Mario McNeill turned himself into police early morning after seeing the hotel images.

• Clarence Coe was released from jail and kidnapping charges dropped.

• Mario McNeill charged with kidnapping Shaniya Davis. Hotel survellience video confirmed him with Shaniya on Tuesday morning. McNeill stated he took Shaniya but denies that he kidnapped her.

• The whereabouts of Shaniya are unknown. FBI and U.S. Marshalls are involved in the nationwide search for Shaniya.

• Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, arrived in Fayetteville and went on national TV begging for the return of his daughter who has lived with him for about 3-4 years, but only lived with her mother for the last three weeks.

• Clarence Coe, boyfriend of Antoinette Davis, is said to be more upset about Shaniya's disappearance than her mother...as per a neighbor intervewed by local news station.

SATURDAY, November 14, 2009

• Late Saturday, Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Davis, was charged with human trafficking, felony child abuse/prostitution, filing a false police report and resist, delay or obstruct.

• Police said Davis was being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $51,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court Monday morning.

• Still no sign of Shaniya Davis.

SUNDAY, November 15, 2009

• Authorities acting on a tip are scouring a portion of south-central North Carolina for a 5-year-old girl reported missing by her mother. Multiple agencies have been searching for Shaniya Davis since 8 a.m.

• SANFORD, NC (WTVD) -- Fayetteville police confirmed Sunday that they were searching on the ground for a missing 5-year-old girl between Fayetteville and Sanford. Chopper 11 confirms a Fayetville forensics truck is on the scene and officers are searching near Walker Road off Highway 87 in the Sanford area.Witnesses told ABC11 Eyewitness News they saw officers searching a ravine in that area around 10 a.m.

• Sanford is about 40 miles north of Fayetteville. Police did not say if they were looking for a body or if they hoped to find Shaniya Davis alive.

• The father of a missing 5-year-old North Carolina girl says he never should have allowed her to go back to her mother.

• Another day gone by. A long day of searching wrapped up at 5:00 PM with still no sign of Shaniya.

UPDATE: Police Searching For Shaniya Davis in Wooded Area of Sanford, NC

UPDATE

By Alicia Cruz
Theblackurbantimes

Sources say that the search for 5-year-old Shaniya Davis has moved to a remote wooded area of Lee County. At this time Law enforcement and residents are searching the wooded areas and waters along Walker Road in the county (City of Sanford). A road in the county near N.C. 78 has been taped off with yellow crime-scene tape.

By 3 p.m., several all-terrain vehicles were seen around the area and later, a Highway Patrol helicopter was present. Right now, it's beginning to look like this search is turning grim. Shaniya Davis was last seen on videotape in the arms of Andrette McNeil, who is currently in police custody inside of a hotel approximately seven miles south of the scene where investigators are currently searching.

McNeill surrendered to police Friday and was charged with first-degree kidnapping. Police say he admitted to the kidnapping of the child but that he did not know where Shaniya was at the time of his arrest. McNeill's bail has been set at $100,000.

Police say an employee of the hotel on video called police to report that they saw a child matching Shaniya's description. When police arrived McNeill and the child were already gone. Authorities reviewed surveillance video and confirmed the child's identity through family members.

Last night, police arrested Shaniya’s mother, Antoinette Davis, and accused her of felony child abuse involving prostitution, interfering with a police investigation, filing a false police report and human trafficking. The mother is in jail and her bond has been set at $51,000. Arrest documents state that the 25-year-old mother has been "uncooperative" with detectives.

Davis, who is employed as a caregiver Carolina Inn at Village Green, an assisted living facility, reported her daughter missing to police on Tuesday. Her job is located on Forsythe Drive, between Village Drive and Robeson Street. No word from police on whether that area has been searched.

Davis told police that she last saw her child at 5:30 a.m. on a couch in their mobile home. When she went to check on little Shaniya later, she was gone. Davis reported her child's disappearance at 6:53 a.m. The mobile home is located in the Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park off Murchison Road in Fayetteville and little Shaniya had only been living with her mother for about three weeks.

Prior to that time, Shaniya lived with her father, Bradley Lockhart also of Fayetteville, for about four years. Lockhart, who described his relationship with the mother as a "one-night stand" to an Associated Press reporter said he let the child live with her mother because Davis had found a place to live and had held a job for six months.

“I just wanted her to be a mother,” he said Saturday. “She was never part of her life.” Lockhart said he and Davis never argued about him raising Shaniya and that he did not know anything about McNeill. Again, if anyone has information about this case or the whereabouts of Shaniya Davis, you are asked to telephone the police at (910) 433-1585.

Mother of Missing Fayetteville Child Arrested

By Alicia Cruz
Theblackurbantimes

The mother of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, who has been missing for several days, has been charged in connection with the child's disappearance.

Antoinette Nicole Davis has been charged by Fayetteville police with human trafficking, felony child abuse, prostitution and filing a false police report.

Police dropped kidnapping charges against another man, Clarence Coe, who was arrested Thursday. The other man charged, Mario Andrette McNeil, is still in police custody, but has divulged no information on Shaniya Davis' whereabouts.

McNeil is the man seen on grainy videotape surveillance holding Shaniya Davis.
Clarence Coe and family members of the child's mother have confirmed that McNeil is the former boyfriend of Antoinette Davis' sister.

McNeil has been charged with first-degree kidnapping.

Shaniya's mother (left) told police that the child simply vanished from a couch in her Fayetteville mobile home on Tuesday around 5:30 a.m.


Anyone with further information on Shaniya's whereabouts is urged to contact Fayetteville Police at 910-433-1856.