NC agents probe child welfare agency in Davis case

NC agents probe child welfare agency in Davis case
The Associated Press Published: Monday, December 7, 2009 at 1:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 7, 2009 at 1:18 p.m.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Agents with North Carolina's criminal investigative agency are launching a probe into whether child welfare workers turned over complete records of their contacts with the family of a slain 5-year-old.

The State Bureau of Investigation said that agents will look into whether Cumberland County's Department of Social Services gave incomplete records to police investigating the slaying of Shaniya Davis, SBI spokeswoman Noelle Talley said Monday.

Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine requested the probe and Cumberland County District Attorney Ed Grannis added his weight after police homicide investigators discussed their experiences.

"I share their concern and have requested the assistance of the SBI to assist us," Grannis said in a letter released Monday.

The girl was reported missing by her mother on Nov. 10. Police said she was killed the same day.

Her mother, Antoinette Davis, 25, is charged with filing a false police report, trafficking her daughter and child abuse involving prostitution.

Mario McNeill, 29, an acquaintance of Davis, is charged with the girl's murder, rape and kidnapping.

A search warrant says McNeill picked the girl up in front of her home and drove her more than 30 miles to a hotel in Sanford, where she was last seen alive. Surveillance video captured McNeill carrying the girl in the building.

DSS Director Brenda Jackson has declined to comment on the agency's involvement with the Davis family because of the homicide investigation and confidentiality rules for child protective services cases.

County child welfare workers had previously investigated Antoinette Davis's care of her 7-year-old son, according to her uncle, Michael Davis.

Antoinette Davis is pregnant and was being held at a state women's prison in Raleigh for her protection.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091207/APN/912071862