Task force of 20 handles inquiry into death of girl, 5

By: The associated Press | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: November 25, 2009

FAYETTEVILLE --

A task force of about 20 people is investigating the rape and killing of a 5-year-old girl, said the police chief whose department is leading the probe.

Fayetteville police are still getting tips about the death of Shaniya Davis two weeks ago.

"There are a plethora of leads that we're following up on," Chief Tom Bergamine said. "It's very important as we prepare the case for the district attorney's office that we cover everything that's possible."

Shaniya was reported missing by her mother on Nov. 10. Police said she was killed the same day.
Her mother, Antoinette Davis, 25, is charged with filing a false police report, trafficking her daughter and child abuse involving prostitution.

Mario McNeill, 29, an acquaintance of Davis, is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping.
Shaniya had gone to live with her mother just weeks earlier after spending most of her life being raised by her father, Bradley Lockhart, and her aunt, Carey Lockhart-Davis.

Lockhart said during an interview on NBC's Today show Tuesday that he made the best decision he could at the time when he let her live with her mother — a decision he now regrets.

"We obviously make decisions in life that sometimes have repercussions or adverse situations that drift from our decision. We just have to continue to believe in God and hope that our decisions are the correct ones," Lockhart said.

Lockhart said he didn't think he overlooked warning signs that Shaniya would be at risk if he accepted Davis's request to help raise the girl.

He has said Davis struggled financially over the years, but she recently got a job and her own place.

"I don't think I really missed any (signs). Of course there's always speculation. There's always things you could look at and say, well maybe, maybe not," Lockhart said.

Bergamine said it is still unclear to investigators why Shaniya was pulled out of school in October.
Shaniya was enrolled at Morganton Road Elementary School near the home of Lockhart-Davis.

McNeill was moved last week from the Cumberland County Detention Center to Central Prison in Raleigh until a court date Dec. 9.

Antoinette Davis was moved Tuesday to a state women's prison in Raleigh.

"She is pregnant, so special precautions had to be taken," Debbie Tanna, a spokeswoman for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said.