This story is so tragic and sad. We like everyone else in the world were hoping for a better ending to this story. 5 year old Shaniya Davis was found dead after her mother sold her into sex slavery. We pray for this poor little girl’s tortured soul and can’t express how criminal her mother and killer are for taking this innocent child’s life.
The father of a 5-year-old girl whose body was found off a rural North Carolina road regrets giving the girl’s mother a chance to raise their daughter, even though she seemed to be getting her life together.
The girl’s father, Bradley Lockhart, said he had a one-night stand with Antoinette Davis and mostly brought up their daughter before letting Davis take care of her.
A month later, Shaniya Davis was dead, her body dumped off a rural road and her mother accused of selling her for sex.
“Lord, I come to you with open arms and it is hard. It is hard,” Lockhart said Monday night as he stood among a crowd of about 500 gathered in a store parking lot for vigil. “Don’t give up on me and don’t give up on Shaniya. She’s right there with you.”
When Shaniya was reported missing, suspicion initially turned to a man described as her mother’s boyfriend. As he was let go, police targeted another man spotted on hotel surveillance footage holding the child. Then, authorities arrested the girl’s mother and accused her of offering her daughter for prostitution.
The arrests offered a glimmer of hope Shaniya would be found alive. But on Monday, searchers discovered the girl’s body off a rural road, nearly a week after her mother reported her missing from a mobile home park in Fayetteville.
At a second memorial about 40 miles away in Sanford, where Shaniya’s body was found, dozens of people attended a Baptist church.
“We have kids and it just hit so close to home. It’s unbelievable how somebody can just do something that horrible to something so precious,” said organizer Crystal Godfrey.
Hundreds of volunteers who helped look for Shaniya left the search area dejected, unable to bring her home to her father, 7-year-old brother and the dolls she so loved.
“I still feel kind of sick to my stomach,” said Angela Jackson, 27, of Sanford, who has a 2-month-old daughter and searched for consecutive days.
Particularly disturbing were the accusations against Shaniya’s mother, 25-year-old Antoinette Davis. Police charged Davis with human trafficking and felony child abuse, saying Shaniya was offered for sex.
Davis was calm and quiet during a court appearance. She provided one-word answers to the judge’s questions. She requested a court-appointed attorney and did not enter a plea.
Her sister, Brenda Davis, 20, said she does not believe the charges.
“I don’t believe she could hurt her children,” said Brenda Davis, who spoke with her sister at the jail Sunday. Davis’ aunt, Yvonne Mitchell, said the mother had two jobs and would never harm the child.
Authorities also charged Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, with kidnapping after they said surveillance footage from a Sanford hotel showed him carrying Shaniya. Authorities said McNeill admitted taking the girl, though his attorney said he will plead not guilty. [source]
Related articles by Zemanta
- Body of Missing NC Girl Found; 2 Facing Charges (abcnews.go.com)
- Girl in prostitution-kid case found dead (msnbc.msn.com)
- Mother of Shaniya Davis 5 charged with prostituting daughter (telegraph.co.uk)
- Missing Girl: Mum On Child Trafficker Charge (news.sky.com)
- Missing girl’s mom charged with human trafficking (cnn.com)
- Mom of missing 5-year-old girl charged (msnbc.msn.com)
- Shaniya Davis Still Missing: 5-Year-Old Girl’s Mother Antoinette Nicole Davis Accused Of Child Abuse Involving Prostitution (huffingtonpost.com)
- Mother of missing 5-year-old NC girl charged (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Mother of Missing 5-Year-Old NC Girl Charged (abcnews.go.com)
- Police: Search is on for N.C. girl’s body (cnn.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=000ddcac-2e6b-469a-9798-18cf5bf68833)
Poor girl let the LORD help and protect all the victims of abuse and rape !!!!!
god bless that girl. What did she ever do to deserve what she went thru!?!?!?!
WHAT kind of mother would ever sell thier daughter for sex i wouldent even call antoinette a mother i call her a murder
What kind of parent sell her doughter for flipping SEX!!!!!! I would never call my self a mother if I ever did that