The father of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis told Oprah Winfrey today that the girl's mother trafficked the child to pay off a drug debt.
The allegation by Bradley Lockhart came a day after Mario Andrette O'Neill was charged with the rape and murder of Shaniya. O'Neill is the man police say is shown on a Sanford, N.C., hotel surveillance camera carrying Shaniya into a hotel room shortly after she was reported missing. He is being held without bond.
The girl's mother, Antoinette Davis, has been arrested and charged with child prostitution. Raleigh's ABC affiliate WTVD confirmed this week that Davis is again pregnant. Davis' other child, a 7-year-old boy, was removed from her home last week, Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance told ABCNews.com, and is now in foster care.
Lockhart, appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today via satellite and said he was told that Anto
Lockhart told Winfrey that the child was the result of a one-night stand and that Davis had raised Shaniya for the first year of her life before asking him to provide a more stable environment.
Custody, he said, "was a verbal agreement between Antoinette and I."
Shaniya's aunt, Carey Lockhart-Davis told Winfrey, "I am disgusted, but yet in so much pain at this point. She was such a vibrant child and such an important part of my life. And it's hard at this point to understand why someone would take this sweet blessing away from me."
Preliminary autopsy reports indicate Shaniya died from asphyxiation, according to the Fayetteville Police Department, though authorities are still waiting on a series of tests results before making a final conclusion. inette Davis had trafficked their daughter to pay off a drug debt.
There's new evidence in the unsolved murder of a 14-year-old girl in Golden Hill.
A newly released autopsy report shows Ahlyja Pinson was stabbed and beaten to death before a registered sex offender discovered her body.
The victim's mother is asking for help in finding the killer.
Adrianna Pinson says about her daughter, "Ahlyja was a very, very happy girl. She loved to be with her friends. She really had plans. She wanted to finish school. She wanted to go to college."
14-year-old Ahlyja Pinson wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up.
Those dreams ended with her violent murder on New Year's Eve 2007.
For the past year and a half Ahlyja's mother has been waiting for justice.
Adrianna says, "It's just hard not to have her here. But it's also hard knowing that these criminals are out there."
A newly released autopsy report shows just how brutal the killing was.
The victim was stabbed more than 70 times with her face and head badly beaten.
She was found lying in a pool of blood in the basement of an abandoned house on "E" Street in Golden Hill.
According to the autopsy report, a homeless sex offender discovered the body and called police.
He reported seeing Ahlyja walking into the house about an hour earlier with a Hispanic man driving a brown Mazda sedan.
10 days after the murder police arrested 21-year old Antero Cruz. - a convicted felon. with a criminal history that includes assault with a deadly weapon and auto theft.
Two weeks later police arrested a second suspect - 49-year old Orlando Duarte. Duarte was a homeless man with a string of non-violent, misdemeanor convictions.
Days later all charges were dropped for lack of evidence and both men were set free from jail.
Adrianna says, "I do have a feeling that there (are) people who know what happened, and they might be afraid of saying what happened."
One of the biggest mysteries in Ahlyja's murder is the lack of a motive.
According to the autopsy report Ahlyja was not sexually assaulted.
The abandoned house was used for gang and drug activity and prostitution.
The report says the girl's body was found lying next to a mattress with condoms on the floor and blood spatter on the walls.
Injuries on the victim's hands and arms reveal she tried to fight off her attacker.
Adriana admits some of her daughter's friends may have had gang ties but she says her daughter was not a gang member and did not deserve to die like this.
Adrianna states, "We have to help our children to grow in a better place. I want people, whoever knows what happened, not to be afraid because we only have one life."
Crimestoppers is offering a $1000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in Ahlyja Pinson's murder.
Call Crimestoppers at (888) 580-8477.
You do not have to give your name to be eligible for reward money.
Would Alyja Pinzon be alive if San Diego Psychologist Diana Guest would not have claimed to have cure Ahlyja Pinzons Uncle? http://www.dianaguest.bravehost.com
