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NANCY GRACE
Shaniya Raped and Murdered the Same Day She Was Taken
Aired November 20, 2009 - 20:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight in the brutal murder of 5-year-old North Carolina girl Shaniya Davis, Shaniya reportedly vanishing from the sofa of her own home at 5:00 in the morning. Then grainy surveillance video surfaces of Shaniya at a local hotel in the arms of 29- year-old Mario McNeill. Cops say he confessed to kidnapping the 5-year-old girl. A massive search for the little girl comes to an end when Shaniya`s tiny body found hidden in dense woods, the cause of death asphyxiation.
Major developments tonight. Arrest warrants just released reveal the innocent 5-year-old girl raped and brutally murdered the very day she`s snatched from her home, in the last hours, cops announcing murder one and rape charges against Mario McNeill, a convicted felon. He walks free early, able to take little Shaniya even with a rap sheet a mile long, including a triple shooting. In a heartbreaking twist, it`s Shaniya`s own mother who`s accused of selling her baby girl for sex, leading to Shaniya`s murder. Will Mommy end up with a murder charge of her own? If so, Mommy`s boyfriend says, she deserves the death penalty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, sir, you`re Mario McNeill? You`re charged with first degree murder. In the state of North Carolina, that`s punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. Do you understand that? You`re also charged with first degree rape of a child. You understand that that could be punished by life in prison without parole?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Fayetteville Police Department will be filing the following charges against Mario McNeill, first degree murder, first degree rape of a child.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Why no murder charge on Mommy? She handed her child over, according to charges, for this child to be put into prostitution, a 5-year-old girl, Kessler! That`s a felony. This is a felony murder!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s coming, and I can`t imagine that they`re thinking maybe this is state`s evidence, maybe she`s going to have something because they don`t have McNeill good enough. It sounds like they`ve got him locked in.
GRACE: They don`t need this mom`s cooperation!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe they`re hoping she`ll be desperate enough to start talking, talking, talking, hoping she`s going to get a deal, and then she`s charged.
BRADLEY LOCKHART, SHANIYA DAIS`S FATHER: This is about Shaniya. This isn`t about Brad or Antoinette or Mr. McNeill, it`s about Shaniya and the memory of a beautiful lady (ph).
GRACE: You guys knew Antoinette. How could she hand the baby over, Byron?
BYRON COLEMAN, SHANIYA`S HALF-BROTHER: It`s hard to believe a mother would just hand her child over to a complete -- I don`t -- I don`t know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Good evening. I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. Major developments tonight in the brutal murder and rape of 5-year-old North Carolina girl Shaniya Davis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You understand that you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You also understand that you have the right to assert that. You can use that (INAUDIBLE) even if you`re questioned by law enforcement. You understand that, as well? Now, let me address the issue of counsel. Have you retained Mr. Rogers (ph) to represent you in this matter?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 29-year-old North Carolina man showed no emotion this afternoon when he was arraigned on first degree rape and murder charges in the death of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Preliminary test results asphyxiation is the cause of death.
GRACE: Murder one charges handed down against Mario McNeill, also charged with child rape. Mommy behind bars, but only on pimping the child out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started in June, 2001. He was arrested for shooting someone in the face, neck, shoulders and arms. At a year later, he was arrested again, this time for drug possession. He`s given 40 to 50 months of probation for shooting someone in the face. Just a couple months later, he violates his probation. He`s arrested again for drug possession. He is sent to prison from October 2003 to May 2006.
GRACE: So this is the man that is pictured carrying little 5-year-old Shaniya in his arms into a hotel room. Thanks, Mommy!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Again, major developments today. Perhaps the most important is that cops can now close in on a timeline because we now know this precious little child was murdered the same day that she was raped. Matt Zarrell, NANCY GRACE producer, tell us more.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: OK. Well, we just got the arrest warrants in today for Mario McNeill and we have learned that Shaniya Davis was raped and murdered the day she went missing, November 10th. Now, we know that the mom called 911 at 5:00 (SIC) and said the last time she saw her child was 5:30. However, McNeill was seen at 6:11 on surveillance 40 miles away at a hotel in Sanford.
LALAMA: OK, now, isn`t it just lovely that whoever did this -- we know who`s charged with it -- didn`t drive around for four days and torment the poor child. Pat Brown, what does it tell you, the fact that this man allegedly murdered her the same day that he raped her?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, my guess is, Pat, that he accidentally killed her he was while raping her. You know, little children are just annoying that way. When you rape them, they tend to object. They tend to be upset about it. So you have to do something like smother them or strangle them because they`re just -- they`re just complaining too much. And so my guess is that`s exactly what he did.
LALAMA: Oh, that`s interesting. So you don`t think that he allegedly performed the rape, then took her somewhere else to murder her, then took her somewhere else to dump her body?
BROWN: I think he may have taken her somewhere else to dump her body, but my guess is she didn`t come out of that little hotel alive.
LALAMA: Yes, and you know what? Talking about asphyxiation, I want to go right to Dr. Jake Deutsch. What exactly does that mean? That`s not necessarily the same thing as strangulation, correct?
DR. JAKE DEUTSCH, EMERGENCY MEDICINE: Right. It`s basically suffocating the child, and you know, putting your hand or some other object over the mouth and depriving her of oxygen. I cannot think of a more gruesome way to accomplish murder. And this is just outrageous. Incredible.
LALAMA: Susan Moss, family law attorney, let me ask you this. If he killed her immediately, allegedly, then clearly, he wasn`t passing her around. Does that still mean it`s trafficking?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Oh, absolutely. I mean, he took her to her room and then he took her to her doom. I mean, this guy is -- it doesn`t even matter because he`s guilty of murder one. And in North Carolina, at the very least, that is life imprisonment. But this is going to be -- this is going to be the death penalty.
The entire public of North Carolina and the country is outraged from what they saw. She`s a little 5-year-old girl. Look at the surveillance tapes. Look how sweet she is. And this guy raped her and allegedly killed her, asphyxiating her, and then dumping her body with deer carcasses? He`s going to get the death penalty. It`s going to go quick. And you`re going to get justice in this case.
LALAMA: Daniel Horowitz, let me ask you, if this was your guy, what are you going to say, Gee whiz, he confessed to kidnapping but somebody pushed him into it and now it`s murder? How do you handle a case like that?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I really think a case like this depends upon whether the client is willing to admit guilt. If he fights guilt when it`s overwhelmingly clear that he did it, you maybe walk away from a case like this. But if he`s willing to admit that he did it and basically throw himself on the mercy of the court, the public and so on, maybe he has a chance at life without parole, rather than death.
LALAMA: Marlaina Schiavo, NANCY GRACE producer, you spoke with Clarence Coe today. He`s the boyfriend of Antoinette Davis. He gave you revealing pieces of information, not necessarily about the case but about himself. Go.
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right. I spoke to him today. He was talking about Antoinette. He was still sticking to the fact that he did not think that she could be responsible for such a crime. And then when I asked him, But what if she is charged with murder, and he said, Well, if she is and she had something to do with this, then she should get the death penalty, too.
LALAMA: That`s really, really interesting, but he doesn`t believe she did. But now, she`s pregnant, correct, sitting in jail?
SCHIAVO: That`s right, Pat. She is two months pregnant with Clarence`s baby. And also, you have to remember this is a man who was put in prison and charged with first degree kidnapping because of Antoinette Davis. She was the one who implicated him in this crime, and he is still sticking by the fact that he doesn`t think that she did it.
LALAMA: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I`ve even heard people around the neighborhood say that he actually -- they thought he was actually the person most concerned for this child.
SCHIAVO: That`s right. And he has said over the past year that he`s become extremely close to Shaniya. He was caring for Shaniya while the mother was working these past six months. And so he`s really torn up about this, and it`s just a shame.
LALAMA: Hey, you know, Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist, I got to ask, why asphyxiation, perhaps the poor child looking up at him in her final moments? What is that about?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, it could be, in addition to what Pat Brown was saying, that it was done, you know, accidentally during the rape...
LALAMA: Yes, yes.
SAUNDERS: It could be that he took some real sadistic pleasure in power and fantasies of control and watching the life seep out of this little baby. Strangulation is up close and personal, and it`s as cold as they come.
LALAMA: Penny Douglas, defense attorney, are you going to be inclined to say, if perhaps this was your client, You can`t connect him to the murder?
PENNY DOUGLAS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s very likely because it`s likely that he passed this child off to other people, as horrific as that could be, because the thing that`s amazing to me, it appears that this child could have still been alive when the mother did that 911 tape because they have her on tape from the hotel. If this child was alive when that mother dialed 911, if the mother had just been honest, possibly they could have found this child before she died.
LALAMA: The father of Shaniya, Brad Lockhart, was a guest on the Oprah show today. He had some interesting things to say. Let`s hear some of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOCKHART: I wasn`t aware of any drug problem, never even crossed my mind. I never saw anything that would stand out to where she had a drug problem.
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST: As far as you know, did you feel that your daughter was safe with her?
LOCKHART: Yes, over the past five years, I never was greatly concerned dropping her off. I mean, you know, everybody`s always got a concern. Antoinette never lived in the best neighborhoods, so of course, there was always that concern. But I never was concerned of her caring for her as a mother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: That`s Shaniya`s father, Bradley Lockhart, on the Oprah show today, addressing alleged drug problems at the home of Shaniya`s mother.
And that gives me just a few seconds to talk to Barbara Davenport, Sleep Hollow Mobile Home Park manager. What about drugs?
BARBARA DAVENPORT, MOBILE HOME PARK MANAGER: There were no drugs at that residence or being sold from that residence, to my knowledge. I have several tenants that live right in close proximity to the Davis residence that I know would have complained to me had there been something going on that even looked a little suspicious.
LALAMA: But very quickly...
DAVENPORT: Now, I know that there was some drug activity going on at their previous residence, I have since learned.
LALAMA: But is it true that you did ultimately evict her sister? And on what grounds?
DAVENPORT: I took her sister to court yesterday morning to evict her for non-payment of rent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLEMAN: She would take every female (INAUDIBLE) my girlfriend to female friends that would just come over to visit, aunts, grandmas, and take them in the back and try to do make-up with them, play -- show her all her toys. She just always was laughing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Fayetteville Police Department will be filing the following charges against Mario McNeill, first degree murder, first degree rape of a child.
LOCKHART: We`ve talked about social services. I feel if they knew or they were aware of this case, a phone call saying that this was the type of environment -- I don`t know the whole case with Shaniya`s mother and social services at this time. But if they would have known, they should have contacted me.
GRACE: Reports emerging tonight that the life of 5-year-old Shaniya was worth nothing more to the mother than payment on a drug debt!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Antoinette Davis and Mario McNeill have been together. They`ve hung out together. There may have been a debt that needed to be paid. We are understanding that she may have owed him money.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And as a result of the drug raid that happened over the summer, they found instruments in the home to manufacture drugs out of her home. We know people were in and out of the home selling drugs. We know that she had dealings with McNeill before Shaniya disappeared. And we know he has a drug history. Now, you add all of that up, and with what cops are saying, that she owed him money, you would have to conclude that possibly she owed him money for drugs.
COLEMAN: My father recently gave her -- Antoinette a chance to -- give the mother a second chance to raise her daughter. I mean, because everybody deserves a second chance, just like a convicted felon, I mean, he deserves a second chance because he could have changed. You never know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, sir, you`re Mario McNeill? You`re charged with first degree murder. In the state of North Carolina, that`s punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. Do you understand that? You`re charged with first degree rape of a child. Do you understand that that could be punished by life imprisonment without parole?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. You know, I got to ask, looking there at Mr. McNeill, Matt Zarrell, NANCY GRACE producer, doesn`t look like there`s a whole lot of emotion, not that he`s required to cry and scream in court. But what was your take?
ZARRELL: Yes, he was very, very quiet. He nodded. He said OK a couple times. His lawyer was standing right next to him the whole time. Now, after the court hearing, he was transferred to the central prison in Raleigh, which is where the capital defendants go, Pat.
LALAMA: All right. Now, another important matter is the toxicology. Jake Deutsch, Dr. Deutsch, what is important about the findings of a toxicology in this case?
DEUTSCH: Well, they`ll really clue in on the foul play, so if Shaniya was drugged, if the cause of death was from something that was toxocologic in nature. Also, I would be curious if they`re going to be testing both the suspects for toxicology, doing drug screens in order to see if, in fact, they are actively using drugs. That would give a lot of insight into the motivation here.
LALAMA: And Marlaina Schiavo, NANCY GRACE producer, when might we expect those test results?
SCHIAVO: Not for a while. Right now, we just have the preliminary results that came in, what we found out last night. But it probably won`t be for several more days, possibly weeks until those tests come back, Pat.
LALAMA: All right. Pat Brown, criminal profiler, let me read some of the evidence found in the car of Mr. McNeill -- black and yellow girl`s jacket, child`s pair of jeans. They don`t appear to have belonged to Shaniya. Isn`t that just a little creepy?
BROWN: That`s extremely creepy. I mean, we know this guy. He should have been in jail and never let out. He shot three people and got probation, so what`s wrong with those people down there, the judge and the parole board? I do not know. But this guy is a lifetime felon. He should not have ever been around Shaniya.
I`m sorry, I`m going to be the one to say this. The father was negligent allowing Shaniya to go down there. When you`re a parent, you never leave your child anyplace, unless a court forces you, where you do not absolutely know these people are safe to be around. And that`s the people -- the mother has people that are around her that are safe. And the mother apparently was involved in stuff. All the people around her are felons. Her boyfriend`s a felon. McNeill`s a felon. Good God, everybody`s a felon. So she had no -- there was no reason to put her there, to put her life at risk. And obviously, we see what happened.
LALAMA: You know, someone brought up an interesting point. Also part of the evidence, Matt, was a GPS -- gee, help me out here. What do you call those things, you know, the direction guidance things. Is it possible there could be something in that?
ZARRELL: Well, I think so. I think one thing they want to look at is where has he been the last couple weeks. Now, we know that Shaniya was alive when they left the hotel on Tuesday morning. They were only there for a little over an hour. So the question remains, where was the murder scene and what links McNeill to the body being found?
LALAMA: Well, I think that`s going to be key. And you know, Daniel Horowitz, Penny Douglas, Susan Moss, all the lawyers, I mean, I think, obviously, for the defense, it`s -- you got nothing. You can`t -- you know, the hotel is one thing. The murder scene, which is apparently not the same as where he dumped the body perhaps -- come on. What kind of argument. Who wants to go first? Susan?
MOSS: How about the confession? How about the confession?
LALAMA: Right. Right.
MOSS: It wasn`t an alleged confession. It`s not being allegedly pregnant. He gave a confession...
(CROSSTALK)
LALAMA: Yes, Susan, I`m with you, but to kidnapping. That`s where the buck stops.
MOSS: To kidnapping. And he brought this girl to a hotel room, was there for an hour. There`s evidence of rape. Look, the DNA is going to clear it up. But it seems that this guy is very guilty.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: The door was not unlocked, that`s what you`re telling me?
ANTOINETTE DAVIS, SHANIYA`S MOTHER: No, it was not unlocked, but I`m telling you she knows how to unlock it. I`m hoping that she didn`t unlock it and walk out.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: What time did you wake up? When did you last see her?
DAVIS: I saw her at 5:30 last night.
911 OPERATOR: At 5:30 last night? Is that when you put her to bed?
DAVIS: Yes, ma`am. No, when she went back to bed.
911 OPERATOR: OK. That was 5:00 this morning, is that what you`re telling me?
DAVIS: Yes, ma`am.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Were there any doors open or anything like that?
DAVIS: She knows how to unlock the front door.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were deer carcasses and trash. And then some of the officers from the Virgin Islands went through here and actually saw her in there. And the dogs were showing a lot of interest. So we checked it out and confirmed.
COLEMAN: My father called me and he told me right before I hear the news that they did find a body and it possibly could be Shaniya`s.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. As I mentioned to you earlier, Shaniya`s father, Brad Lockhart, made an appearance on the Oprah show. Let`s listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOCKHART: Antoinette did care for Shaniya her first year, when she was first born. After that, she felt that it was best that Shaniya stay with me, as I was able to provide and give her a better environment. Anytime Antoinette asked to see her, I made arrangements that she was able to spend time with her daughter. There was never no custody issues. There was never no disputes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Now, that`s Shaniya`s father, Bradley Lockhart, on the Oprah show today in video from Harpo Productions.
The callers -- you`ve been so patient. Keisha in Texas. Are you with me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, ma`am.
LALAMA: What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, when`s the last time the father or the aunt took the time to go in the house and check out the living situation? Because I hear (INAUDIBLE) talk about they dropped the daughter off all the time, but not going in the house. And apparently, that mess (ph) didn`t happen overnight.
LALAMA: Marlaina, got an answer for that one?
SCHIAVO: We haven`t been told if he`s even gone in the house. A lot of people have been asking that question. But I will say this. The father wasn`t home very much, so I don`t know how much of the home he actually saw. And as far as the aunt is concerned, she would just drop her off in front of the house, and Byron, the brother, would, as well. They`d exchange pleasantries and go on their way. So I don`t know how much of the interior of the home they actually saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOCKHART: (INAUDIBLE) baby (INAUDIBLE) do this, but you`re in a better place. You`re in better hands. You don`t have to hurt no more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BERGAMINE, FAYETTEVILLE POLICE CHIEF: Preliminary tests results asphyxiation as the cause of death.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say Shaniya`s accused kidnapper is the one who killed her.
BERGAMINE: The Fayetteville Police Department would be filing the following charges against Mario McNeill -- first degree murder and first degree rape of a child.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say that McNeill was the last to see Shaniya alive based on these surveillance pictures taken at the Comfort Inn in Sanford. And the charges against McNeill may not be the end of this case.
BERGAMINE: The criminal investigation surrounding this unfortunate tragedy continues as the task force follows up on many numerous leads.
CAREY LOCKHART-DAVIS, SHANIYA DAVIS` AUNT: I feel robbed. I feel Shaniya was robbed. She was very intelligent. She has such a wonderful, kind soul in her spirit and smile brightened every day of everyone she touched.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: There`s your dad right there. There`s your dad. Would you please.
BYRON COLEMAN, SHANIYA DAVIS` HALF-BROTHER: I really do want to thank everybody for the support and prayers. I mean it really does mean a lot. We know -- we just want everybody to stay as strong as we are trying to. We know it`s hard. For the mothers out there, don`t let this happen to your child.
BRADLEY LOCKHART, SHANIYA DAVIS` FATHER: Don`t give up on me and don`t give up on Shaniya. She`s right there with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You understand that you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You also understand that you have a right to assert. You can use that right even if you`re questioned by law enforcement. Do you understand that as well?
Yes. Let me address the issue of counsel. Have you retained Mr. Rogers to represent you in this matter?
MARIO MCNEILL, SUSPECT IN THE DEATH OF SHANIYA DAVIS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: I`m Pat Lalama in for Nancy Grace. I want to go to Barbara Davenport who runs the Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park. Did you ever see any kind of social services, children`s services, any kind of authorities, there investigating the household?
BARBARA DAVENPORT, SLEEPY HOLLOW MOBILE PARK MANAGER, RENTED HOME TO DAVIS` SISTER: No, I did not.
LALAMA: Just as the manager, did you ever look at that particular residence and say, boy, I don`t know. There`s something weird going on over there.
DAVENPORT: Actually yes. And that`s why Brenda Davis was on the list to be evicted. We placed her on the list toward the end of October. And it was primarily because of the higher than normal amount of traffic we were seeing going back and forth to the residence. And partly because I suspected that she has more people there than was supposed to be and that she was lying to me about it.
LALAMA: Gotcha. Daniel Horowitz and Penny Douglass Furr, defense attorneys.
One thing I know about the law in the state of California where I live is that in a case like this, if you put your child in the kind of dangerous situation that you know will ultimately lead to a horrid fate such as rape and murder, you are equally responsible for that murder. Tell me why I am wrong.
(CROSSTALK)
PENNY DOUGLASS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You`re absolutely right.
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Pat, you`re right, actually. Go ahead, Penny.
DOUGLASS FURR: You`re absolutely correct. Because if she gave her child out to be raped and she`s guilty, that`s a felony. The child dies during that felony, it would be felony murder. So she would be guilty of felony murder here.
LALAMA: Yes, but how would you argue that, Daniel, if it were your client?
HOROWITZ: Well, you see that`s why you can`t argue that.
LALAMA: Give me a good excuse for why -- go ahead.
HOROWITZ: You don`t make an excuse. You know I`ve done death penalty cases and I`ve had one death verdict. You don`t make excuses. You don`t say that McNeill handed off the child. Because he`s still responsible for her death.
You`ve got to be real with people. And when the facts are against you, embrace the facts and give a reason why death is not warranted. In this case, we`re not talking about guilt or innocence, that`s off the table. We`re talking about life or death for both the mother who gave up her daughter and this killer.
And that`s all you can do as a good attorney, you focus on saving your client`s life.
LALAMA: Susan Moss, I`ve got to tell you, I will lose faith in the system if she`s responsible for trafficking and if she doesn`t get charged with murder.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Absolutely. I think she`s going to be charged. But my goodness. And she`s even stupid. Because -- hey, stupid mom, you get more money for child support than selling your child for prostitution if you keep her alive.
This woman is not only guilty of murder, is not only guilty of selling your child to be a prostitute, she`s also guilty of stupidity.
LALAMA: You know, I`ve got to ask this, Pat Brown, if she did it just this one time, it`s no less heinous. I mean it`s still called trafficking. We talked about that earlier. But, you know, how do you, as profilers, approach a case like this?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "KILLING FOR SPORT": Well, we`re going to have to look at all the behaviors we have in the past. In the case of this mother, for example, she was allowing her boyfriend, who was as far I knew was a felon and I thought he had sex offenses on his record, baby-sit her little 5-year-old girl alone.
So there`s another whole can of worms. Was that 5-year-old girl safe every time she was with this particular person? And then who else did she leave the child with and did she farm the child out in the past?
LALAMA: Yes. Yes, I mean.
BROWN: There was a lot here.
LALAMA: Here`s something else, Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist. In this man`s car are, you know, kids clothes. Now do you suddenly one day wake up and go, oh gee, I think today I`m going to rape and murder a child? He has no child related offenses. No sex related offenses. That`s a fact. OK? But, to me, what`s all that stuff doing in his car?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: There are two types of child rapist murders. There`s the preferential which we know as pedophiles and there`s a situational.
It`s really, really of concern that there are child`s pants. So we don`t know enough about his personal background. I read his history. He was friends with the mother or hung out with her. Doesn`t sound like they had much of a relationship. But it`s beginning to point in the direction of his being a predator pedophile.
LALAMA: Matt Zarrell, NANCY GRACE producer, do we know if cops and prosecutors are looking at getting murder charges on this woman?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Well, as of right now, cops are saying that it`s an ongoing investigation. They don`t say they will file additional charges, Pat, but they do say they could and there is potential for more evidence to come forward we could see more charges.
LALAMA: And Marlaina Schiavo, Schiavo, forgive me, NANCY GRACE producer, mom is sitting in jail, two months pregnant. Isn`t that just peachy. Now what does that mean for mom?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, that means that she is going to have to make a -- well, actually, the decision is going to be made for her. I spoke to Clarence, he said he will take custody of that child and then he sort of added if the child goes to term. I mean he`s under the impression.
LALAMA: What does that mean? She`s thinking that the -- go ahead.
SCHIAVO: He`s thinking that the stress of all of this, she may miscarry. I mean that`s just an opinion of his. But that`s beside the point. But now, he will take custody of that child, Pat.
LALAMA: You know, I`ve got a question for Pat Brown, we all know in the male prison population, there`s what I like to call cell justice on child molesters and child rapists. It -- does it work the same for females? In other words, does Antoinette need to be protected?
BROWN: Well, they`re going to claim that anyway. And even in the male section, I mean, we hear about that all the time but it`s amazing how many child predators just do just dandy in jail. So I think that`s a little overstated for certain population.
LALAMA: Do you really?
BROWN: Absolutely.
LALAMA: Oh wow, that`s interesting.
BROWN: Otherwise, we`d hear about them being dead every day and we don`t hear that.
LALAMA: Jenny, in Delaware, caller. What`s your question, Jenny?
JENNY, CALLER DELAWARE: Hi.
LALAMA: Hi.
JENNY: We were just wondering if the father and aunt had not seen her since October 9th, for five weeks, why did they not call Shaniya to see how school was, or adjusting to living with mom is going or get her for the weekend?
LALAMA: That`s a good question. Matt, do we know what kind of contacts was -- and by the way, my understanding is that she was pulled out of kindergarten so she wasn`t even going to kindergarten anymore. Did the parents -- no, did the father know that?
ZARRELL: Yes, she was pulled out of school in mid-October. Now our understanding is that the aunt would see Shaniya on the weekends. But we don`t know if the aunt was aware of what was going on or allegedly going on in that home, Pat.
LALAMA: Interesting. All right, another caller. I think we have Shelly in Wisconsin. Go ahead, Shelly.
SHELLY, CALLER FROM WISCONSIN: Yes, my question is, they first reported that there was fecal matter on blankets and on the -- in the house.
LALAMA: Right.
SHELLY: I`m wondering if maybe had an assault happened before she even left the house?
LALAMA: Yes. You know.
SHELLY: Or will an autopsy even show.
LALAMA: You`re reading my mind. Dr. Jake Deutsche, fecal matter on a blanket in the trash at the neighbor`s place and fecal matter on the stairwell. I`m afraid to think about what connection that may have.
DR. JAKE DEUTSCH, M.D., DOCTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE: It certainly bring up the possibility of sodomy assault for the rape. And the rape kit is really going to link the crime with the perpetrators here. Collecting DNA evidence, getting cells and fiber that are going to be pertinent to really solving this crime. It`s horrible to think about.
LALAMA: Susan Moss, family law attorney, any thoughts on that bit of evidence?
MOSS: It`s absolutely despicable. And -- you know the crime just keep on piling up. She will be charged for that, too, if there`s any DNA evidence or any type of toxicology. You have evidence or rape kit evidence that leads to that conclusion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOCKHART: I come to you with open arms. And it`s hard. It`s hard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s hard, man. It`s hard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.
LOCKHART: You want me to believe, but you give me no faith to believe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: 911. What`s your emergency?
ANTOINETTE DAVIS, SHANIYA DAVIS` MOTHER: Yes, ma`am. My name is Antoinette Davis at Sleepy Hollow.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK, ma`am. How can I help you?
DAVIS: I woke up this morning and my daughter was not in the house. I don`t know if she walked out, I don`t know what`s going on, but she`s not here.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: How old is your daughter?
DAVIS: She`s 5.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Five?
DAVIS: Yes, ma`am.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: The chief of police have announced that formal charges have been filed against Mario McNeill, the 29-year-old man pictured in a hotel video with 5-year-old Shaniya Davis. He`s charged with first degree murder and the rape of this child. This 5-year-old little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: You said none of the doors were open?
DAVIS: No, ma`am. They were locked, but she knows how to unlock the front door.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Was it closed this morning?
DAVIS: Yes, ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: And you said it was around 5:30?
DAVIS: Yes, ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. Have you checked the neighborhood?
DAVIS: I checked everywhere. I haven`t checked the back end of the neighborhood yet but I checked the front end. I`m just -- I don`t know what else to do. I`m so -- I don`t know what else to do.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Are there any more juveniles inside the home?
DAVIS: Yes, my son, but he`s here!
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. And your door was not unlocked, that`s what you`re telling?
DAVIS: No, it was not unlocked but I`m telling you she knows how to unlock it. I`m hoping that she didn`t unlock it and walk out.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: What`s the number you`re calling me from, ma`am?
DAVIS: It`s my cell phone number.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. We already got your call in, we`re going to get someone out. You said her hair was out?
DAVIS: Yes. Just like a bushy afro.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. How much does she weigh? Do you know?
DAVIS: No, ma`am, I don`t remember.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. All right, ma`am, just try to, you know, check your home again and check around the neighborhood. If anything changes call us back but we already got the call in and we`re going to get someone out as soon as we can, OK?
DAVIS: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: All right, ma`am. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: I`m Pat Lalama in for Nancy Grace. Parents do a lot of jerky stuff to their kids, but Patricia Saunders, I just cannot understand the maternal disconnect in a human being if this woman, Antoinette, actually did this saying here, have my kid. Have some sex.
SAUNDERS: Yes, this would be a great world if the mommy`s around were more like Nancy Grace. But not every mother attaches to her babies. Some mothers are jealous of their babies. Some mothers hate them. Some mothers see their children as Barbie dolls to dress up and then put them away when you`re finished with them. Or.
LALAMA: Or make beauty greens out of them when they`re 6.
SAUNDERS: Yes, good point.
LALAMA: OK. Listen, I want to -- I`m sorry to do this, but I want to get to Barbara Davenport. What has this done to your community?
DAVENPORT: Well, there`s a lot of anger, there`s a lot of sadness. A lot of asking why and maybe a little bit of finger pointing and.
LALAMA: But let me ask you, Barbara.
DAVENPORT: . soul searching like what could we have done to stop this.
LALAMA: Good point. But, again, ultimately, it`s her mother`s responsibility. And I want to know, did you ever see them interact? Did you see Antoinette act as a mother?
DAVENPORT: I never saw the child.
LALAMA: Really? Did you ever see.
DAVENPORT: I never saw the child the whole time she was allegedly in my park.
LALAMA: OK. Wow. Did you ever see the 7-year-old son?
DAVENPORT: I may have seen him once or twice.
LALAMA: Which reminds me, Matt Zarrell, where is the 7-year-old son?
ZARRELL: Well, that`s a good question. We don`t know exactly where he is. Now we know that there were four children in the home when Shaniya went missing, the 7-year-old, Shaniya, and the sister`s two children, a 2- year-old and an infant.
LALAMA: We know that Clarence Coe and Mr. McNeill both have a history of crime. But there`s no clue, indication, evidence that anything related to sex crimes or child crimes. We just want to make that point clear.
But, you know, Susan Moss, she`s sitting in jail with a, you know, 2- month-old fetus in her stomach. And I mean if she -- if it comes to term, will the state be able to come and whisk that child away? What`s likely to happen?
MOSS: Absolutely, the child will be taken away. These are the effects of selling your child for sex. She will lose custody of this child, of the son. There is going to be absolutely no custodial rights, no matter what happened. But I don`t think she`ll see another free day the rest -- at all.
LALAMA: Let`s listen again to the father, Brad Lockhart, today on the "Oprah" show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOCKHART: I wasn`t aware of any drug problem. Never even crossed my mind. Never saw anything that would stand out to where she had a drug problem.
OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: As for as you know, did you feel that your daughter was safe with her?
LOCKHART: Yes, over the past five years, I never was greatly concerned dropping her off. I mean everybody always has a concern. Antoinette never lived in the best neighborhoods, so of course there was always that concern. But I never was concerned of her caring for her as a mother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: That`s Shaniya`s father, Bradley Lockhart, on the "Oprah" show today addressing drug problems at the home of Shaniya`s mother.
Let`s go to another caller, Carol in Oklahoma, good evening. And your question?
CAROLYN, CALLER FROM OKLAHOMA: Yes. I was wanting to know about another mother dialing 911 saying her daughter was kidnapped. But what I don`t get is that why was the man, if the mother handed her over, admit to kidnapping, and who gives the information that the mother actually was prostituting her young 5-year-old daughter out?
LALAMA: Thank you. Penny Douglass Furr, you know, how did that all transpire, do you think?
DOUGLASS FURR: Well, I haven`t seen the information that he actually confessed. What I saw was that he took the child and the mother willingly gave him the child which creates a problem with this warrant. Because a part of this is that you take the child without knowledge of the parent or guardian.
Apparently this mother gave it to him voluntarily. So that would create a problem with that particular charge.
LALAMA: And now, switching gears a bit. To a lighter note, tonight`s CNN Heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.
TERRENCE HOWARD, ACTOR: Hello. I`m Terrence Howard. During last year`s CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute, I had the honor of recognizing CNN`s Hero of the Year, Liz McCartney for her extraordinary work in helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Since then her organization has built 50 more homes in New Orleans and nearly another 60 are under construction. As we approach this year`s tribute show, Thanksgiving night, let us look back at last year`s CNN Hero of the Year, Liz McCartney.
LIZ MCCARTNEY, CNN HERO: The Heroes award was like a shot in the arm for the region. It reinvigorated people. It made them feel like across the country and around the world people still cared. All sorts of doors have been opened for the project as a result of the award. Volunteers, clients, donors.
I think every week people say I heard about the St. Bernard Project on CNN Heroes.
In the greater New Orleans area there are over 10,000 households that are struggling to secure permanent, stable housing.
To date we`ve had over 16,000 volunteers. We are going to be celebrating the 240th home that we`ve completed. We expanded our capacity. We are also building homes in New Orleans but it has also helped us start our Center for Wellness and Mental Health. So it helped us rebuild homes and also rebuild people`s lives.
We`re getting there but there`s still work to be dome. A couple of more years and we`ll be there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LALAMA: And now a look back at the stories making the rest of the headlines this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERGAMINE: Earlier this evening, members of the Shaniya Davis Task Force received confirmation from the state medical examiner`s office on the ruling and manner of death of Shaniya Davis as a homicide. Preliminary test results asphyxiation as the cause of death.
GRACE: Murder one charges against Mario McNeill pictured there on your screen in the murder, we now know cause of death asphyxiation. The strangling or suffocation death of 5-year-old Shaniya.
Also tonight, the bombshell. Rape charges on this child, also leveled against McNeill.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news. The 15-year-old girl accused of brutally murdering 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten has been certified to stand trial as an adult. Now 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante is facing first degree murder.
A police officer testified in court that Bustamante confessed to killing Elizabeth because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.
GRACE: She actually told the police that was her motive? She wanted to know what it felt like to kill somebody?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The body was located of a small child a little while ago off Walker Road, about 100 feet off of the road. At this time, a positive identification will be made by family.
GRACE: This is Shaniya`s sister who is with us tonight, Cheyenne Lockhart.
CHEYENNE LOCKHART, SHANIYA DAVIS` SISTER: She is so loving and caring. She`s always happy and giggling. You would -- you would never think anybody would do that to her. She`s just the sweetest little girl.
COLEMAN: I haven`t heard anything. I don`t think my father has either. We`re not really sure too much yet. We`re still trying to figure it out now. So I mean.
GRACE: And there is your dad right there.
COLEMAN: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: There is your dad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Tonight, let`s stop to remember Army Sergeant Daniel Torres, 23 years old, from Forth Wood, Texas. On a second tour of duty in Iraq. He lost his life just days after finding out he was going to be a father. He dreamed of getting married and going to college to study marketing and international business.
He leaves behind his father, Sergio, his sister, Christina, girlfriend, Sophia, and a little girl he never got to meet, Daniela.
Daniel Torres, an American hero.
Thank you to all of our guest, and to you at home for being with us. Thanks, Nancy, for the opportunity. See you tomorrow night. 8:00 p.m. sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, everybody.
END
