Murder Charges Filed in Death of Shaniya Davis

Updated November 20, 12:23 p.m.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Authorities say a 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home.
Arrests warrants released Friday say Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mother reported her missing. Authorities embarked on a nearly weeklong search that ended when the girl's body was found dumped off a rural road.
Mario McNeill is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child.
The girl's mother is charged with trafficking her daughter and child abuse involving prostitution.
Meanwhile, a woman dating McNeill's brother tells The Associated Press the suspect is a good father and uncle. Tomeka Gray says McNeill came to see his new niece earlier this year with an armload of baby items.

Updated November 16, 4:23 p.m.
(AP) Just hours after the body of her 5-year-old daughter was found near a wooded road in North Carolina, the girl's mother has made a brief court appearance. Antoinette Davis is charged with human trafficking and felony child abuse in connection with the girl's disappearance. Police say 5-year-old Shaniya Davis had been offered for prostitution. The mother was calm and quiet during a five-minute court appearance today in Fayetteville. She did not enter a plea. Outside court, her sister said she doesn't believe the charges. Also facing charges in the case is a man who police say was seen in surveillance footage from a Sanford hotel, carrying the girl. Mario McNeill is charged with kidnapping. They say he has admitted taking the girl, but his attorney says he will plead not guilty. The mother reported Shaniya missing on Tuesday. The girl's father said he had raised her for several years but decided last month to let her stay with her mother -- a decision he now says he regrets.

Updated November 16, 1:26 p.m.

SANFORD, N.C. (AP) - Police: Searchers find body of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis. The North Carolina girl has been missing for a week.

Posted November 16, 8:03 a.m.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina mother is to appear in court as authorities search woods and swamps for her 5-year-old daughter.
Searchers returned Monday to look for Shaniya Davis, whose mother reported her missing from a Fayetteville mobile home park Nov. 10. A surveillance camera recorded the man charged in the girl's kidnapping carrying her into a hotel room in Sanford, about 30 miles away.
A police spokeswoman did not immediately return a call to The Associated Press early Monday seeking comment on the search.
Police arrested Shaniya's mother Saturday and charged 25-year-old Antoinette Davis with human trafficking, felony child abuse involving prostitution and filing a false police report.