Darion Vence, the former fiancé of Maleah Davis’s mother was taken into custody on May 11 and charged in the case of Maleah’s disappearance, according to reports.
Law enforcement sources from the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitives Task Force told ABC13 News that Vence was charged with a felony of tampering with evidence of a human corpse; however, authorities have not provided any updates on Maleah’s disappearance or confirmed the fate of the young girl.
Vence is currently being held in Harris County Jail without bond, reported Click2Houston, citing police.
According to ABC13, Maleah was last seen alive on April 30 on a surveillance video at her family’s apartment, where Vence was seen bringing her back to the residence. Her mother had also left for a funeral on that day.
Surveillance photos, which were also obtained by the news website and released on May 10, revealed that Vence was seen on May 3 holding a laundry basket with a black garbage bag placed inside—one day before Maleah’s disappearance.
A second photo apparently shows Vence showing up at Sugar Land Methodist Hospital on the evening of May 4 carrying his 1-year-old son, with no Maleah in sight, a source told ABC13.
The new charges against Vence are the latest development in the disappearance of Maleah.
The young girl has been missing since May 4 after Vence said that he, Maleah, and his 1-year-old son were accosted by three men who he described as Hispanicon on May 3.
Vence said he was driving to pick up Maleah’s mother, Brittany Bowens, at the airport when he was forced to pull over because of a noise that sounded like a flat tire.
When he got out of his car, he said, he was approached by the trio, who he said were in a blue Chevy truck. After hearing the men say that Maleah looked “very nice” and “very sweet,” Vence claimed, he was knocked on the head. He said that when he regained consciousness he was on the side of Highway 6 near First Colony Mall in Sugarland on the evening of May 4. His son was with him but Maleah was gone.
1/2: Photos displayed at the media briefing: first is victim’s stolen car, a silver 2011 Nissan Altima with TX paper tags 3092G9, seen on a traffic camera near Hwy 59 & State Hwy 6 in Sugar Land about 3 pm Saturday (May 4). Second is photo likeness of suspects’ blue truck. pic.twitter.com/rseWWqO4s4
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) May 5, 2019
Vence then went to Houston Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land for his injuries, reported ABC13.
Police later said that Vence changed his story and was listed a person of interest in the case. They said Vence first told detectives that he walked to the hospital but he later told them that he was dropped off, Fox26 reported. The police are looking at surveillance camera footage in the area.
Meanwhile, Bowens told the news website that after Vence did not turn up at the airport, she asked another family member to pick her up. She also filed a police report on the morning of May 4 after not seeing Vence.
Bowens also made a shocking allegation against Vence earlier, on May 10, revealing that there was surveillance video evidence of Vence emerging from his home with a bottle of Clorox along with a laundry basket with a garbage bag inside, Click2Houston reported. The video was then passed on to the police.
“When he spoke to the mother, he told ABC13 he was cleaning up the apartment, and she didn’t understand why he would be cleaning up the apartment,” community activist Quanell X, speaking on behalf of Bowens, told reporters.
Maleah was described as an African-American female with black hair and brown eyes, standing approximately 3 feet tall and weighing between 30 and 40 pounds. She was wearing a pink bow in her hair, a light blue zip jacket, blue jeans and gray, white and pink sneakers.
If you’ve seen Maleah please call HPD Homicide at 713-308-3600 or @crimestophou at 713-222-TIPS.
The Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips and NTD reporter Zack Stieber contributed to this report.
