She claimed her daughter, Shaniya Davis, was missing.
Despite the urgency of the situation, Antoinette hesitated to call the police.
It took nearly an hour for her sister Brenda to convince her, before she finally called to report Shaniya missing.
The police issued an Amber Alert for the missing girl, and almost immediately, employees at a nearby hotel recognized Shaniya.
Security cameras from the nearby hotel had captured disturbing footage of Shaniya with a man the evening before she was reported missing
In the footage, the man was carrying Shaniya out of the hotel which sent a wrong signal to everyone thinking she had been kidnapped.
The man was later identified as Mario Andrette McNeill, Brenda's ex-boyfriend.
During the police investigation, it was discovered that Shaniya had not been kidnapped by Mario.
Instead, Shaniya's mother, Antoinette, gave her to him to pay off a $200 debt.
Antoinette confessed to a detective that McNeill was supposed to "just have sex with her."
However, Shaniya was not seen again until a week later, when her body was found under a log in the woods.
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| Shaniya Davis |
Timeline of Shaniya Davis' Disappearance
Around 5:30 a.m. on November 10, 2009, Brenda Davis and her boyfriend, Jeroy Smith woke up to strange noises.
According to them, the noise sounded like someone was trying to break into their home.
After some time, the strange noise stopped.
But just as they were about going back to sleep, Brenda’s sister Antoinette burst into their room to tell them that her daughter Shaniya was missing.
Antoinette went outside to look for Shaniya, and her son told Brenda and Smith that he had seen someone else in the house earlier.
Brenda told Antoinette to call the police, but she hesitated before eventually making the call.
Reports have it that Antoinette was interviewed multiple times by police in the following days.
Initially, she said she didn't know anything about Shaniya’s whereabouts, but her story quickly changed.
By the time of her first police interview, Shaniya had already been seen twice on security footage at a nearby hotel with an unidentified man.
Antoinette gave the police a name, but it was incorrect, leading to the arrest of her boyfriend.
However, it soon became clear that he was not the kidnapper.
Antoinette later confessed that the real culprit was Mario McNeill.
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| Mario McNeill |
He began texting women for sex, eventually reaching out to his ex, Brenda Davis.
Although Brenda did not respond, another woman who lived close to brenda did.
McNeill went to see the woman who replied him but the woman had already fallen asleep.
Not discouraged, he attempted to text Brenda once more.
When she didn’t answer, he made his way into her home, as he knew how to gain access.
Initial reports suggested that Davis owed McNeill money for drugs, but it was later clarified that McNeill had lent Davis $200 for food and a hotel room when she was homeless.
Regardless of the reason, Davis couldn’t repay the debt.
After he entered the house very drunk, McNeill demanded either money or sex, and Davis offered him Shaniya, who was only five years old.
She explained to investigators saying, "I gave her to him to cover $200. He was only supposed to have sex."
Davis claimed she had tried to stop McNeill from taking Shaniya, but investigators did not believe her.
Evidence found, including a feces-covered blanket, suggested that Shaniya had been raped inside the home.
The Tragic Discovery of Shaniya’s Body
During McNeill’s trial, he claimed he couldn’t remember where he left Shaniya.
His lawyers said he had left her somewhere along Route 87 between Spring Lake and Sanford, near some green portable toilets.
A massive search ensued, involving officers from the Virgin Islands who were in North Carolina for dog-handling training.
An officer found Shaniya’s body under a log and an autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
In May 2013, McNeill was convicted of kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, sexual servitude, taking indecent liberties with a minor, and committing a sex offense against a child by an adult offender.
He was sentenced to death.
Antoinette Davis, pregnant at the time of her arrest, had her newborn taken into foster care.
She faced numerous charges and ultimately entered Alford pleas to second-degree murder, human trafficking, conspiracy, kidnapping, sexual offense, sexual servitude, and taking indecent liberties with a minor.
This meant she did not admit guilt but acknowledged the state had enough evidence to convict her.
During her sentencing, Davis said “I want to say I did the best I could with my children. I never said I was a perfect mother, but I was a good mother. I did what I had to provide for them. I did what I had to to make sure they were alright. I didn’t have any help from anybody.”
Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons responded, “You could have saved your daughter’s life, and you did not. You had the time, the opportunity and the means to save Shaniya’s life, and you did not. You are not a good mother.”
Davis was sentenced to at least 17 years in prison and required to register as a sex offender for at least 30 years.
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