Father Of Maleah Davis Says Suspect Derion Vence Stopped Him From Seeing His Daughter The Day Before She Went Missing
During a May 29 Houston court hearing, new details surrounding the disappearance of 4-year-old Maleah Davis were revealed by the child’s biological father.
According to Houston news station KTRK, Craig Davis testified at a Child Protective Services hearing Wednesday saying he and his sister arrived at the home shared by Maleah, her mother, and her mother’s former fiancé, Derion Vence, on the evening of May 3.
Davis said when he arrived at the home and asked to see Maleah, Vence would not allow him or his sister to enter and claimed the little girl had the flu.
After Vence said the girl was sick, Davis then asked if he and his sister could just see her sleeping in her room.
Again, Vence would not allow them to go inside and see.
"'I don't want you to get sick also,'" Davis alleged Vence said.
During this time, Maleah and her 1-year-old brother were left in Vence’s care while Maleah’s mother, Brittany Bowens, attended her father’s funeral in Massachusetts.
Just one day later on May 4, Vence reported that Maleah was abducted by three men while he was driving the airport to pick up Bowens.
Later in the CPS hearing, Davis said Bowens asked him to take Maleah to the doctor on April 29 because something was wrong. Before Davis could take Maleah in for an exam, Bowens called him back and said Vence would take her to the doctor instead, Davis testified.
The CPS hearings come after Derion Vence and Brittany Bowens were banned from seeing their children.
Maleah’s 1-year-old half-brother was ordered to stay with his paternal grandmother, while Maleah’s older brother, 5, was placed in the custody of his paternal aunt, reported KHOU 11.
Maleah and her brothers were previously removed from Vence and Bowens’ care in 2018 when the girl suffered a serious head injury that required a series of brain surgeries. After Maleah went missing, Davis shared personal photos of him and his daughter after one of her surgeries.
Vence was arrested after blood matching the girl’s DNA was found in his apartment bathroom and police K-9s detected traces of human decomposition in his trunk.
Vence was charged with tampering with evidence.
During the CPS hearings, six attorneys interviewed three witnesses, including a CPS caseworker and Brittany Bowens.