Updated 5:10 pm CDT, Friday, May 10, 2019
The mother of missing 4-year-old Maleah Davis is blaming her common-law husband for the girl’s disappearance, alleging he might have retaliated after a fight and accusing him of past abuse.
Community activist Quanell X dropped the accusations on Friday, speaking on behalf of Maleah’s mother Brittany Bowens. He said Bowens has seen a surveillance video that apparently shows the girl’s stepfather walking out of his apartment with bleach, a laundry container and a black bag she believes contained the girl’s body.
“There’s a lot that hasn’t come out, that’s for sure,” he said Friday. “It’s just a sad story.”
Houston Police Department officials declined to comment on what evidence they might have, or corroborate whether Bowens was meeting with HPD officers Friday to discuss the video, which a neighbor apparently caught from their home.
“We’re not confirming anything at this point,” police spokesman Victor Senties said.
[...]
In the video, Vence was seen the morning after Bowens went to Massachusetts for her father’s funeral carrying two bottles of bleach, a large laundry container and a black bag stuffed inside, Quanell X said.
Bowens believes that Maleah’s disappearance was triggered by a confrontation she had with Vence the day before her trip, Quanell X said. She asked Vence about nude photos he allegedly sent to another person, and he “snapped.”
He took it out on Maleah, possibly because of indications that he physically and sexually abused the girl, who has special needs, Quanell X said. She described severe bruising on the little girl’s leg on at least one occasion, as well as suspicions she had been molested.
“It was out of fear and out of being threatened by Mr. Darion that she covered up physical abuse of Maleah that the stepfather was doing,” the activist said. “For some reason, she was unwilling to tell everything she knew about him. And I think the mother has a twisted love for the man.”
Mother of Maleah Davis blames girl’s stepfather for disappearance