The mother of missing 4-year-old Maleah Davis has lost her child, and more recently, her biggest defender.
Houston activist Quanell X announced Wednesday that he was no longer the acting spokesman for Brittany Bowens, whose daughter disappeared almost a month ago. Bowens’ ex-fiancé, Derion Vence, claimed Davis was kidnapped during an alleged carjacking, but authorities no longer believe that to be true.
Activist Quanell X said he noticed “red flags” shortly after becoming spokesman for Maleah Davis’ mom, Brittany Bowens. (KHOU 11 / video screenshot)
Bowens’ credibility has also come into question, and Quanell X said he believes the grieving mom knows more about her child’s disappearance than she’s letting on.
“I don’t think she knows where Maleah is, but I do believe she knows what happened,” he told KHOU 11 this week.
Less than 30 minutes after his interview with a station reporter, the activist revealed that Bowens told him she had been in communication with Vence, 26, who’s been charged as a suspect in the case. He said Bowens also shared details so sensitive and damning that he immediately took it to prosecutors.
“(She) said to me when we (were) riding in my car what she believed really happened to Maleah,” Quanell told the station. “At that point, I knew what needed to be done. I arranged to meet as quickly as I could with investigators at the highest level of this case and shared everything that we had learned and discovered.”
Quanell said it was Bowens’ sister who asked him to help Maleah’s mother manage as police continued searching for the little girl.
Earlier this month, Vence was arrested and charged with tampering with a corpse after authorities found traces of blood matching the child’s DNA in the family’s apartment. A neighbor’s surveillance camera also captured the suspect leaving the apartment with a laundry basket and a plastic trash bag on the day of Maleah’s disappearance.
Bowens was out of town for her father’s funeral at the time.
Quanell said it wasn’t long before he started noticing red flags, including information from relatives that painted a dark picture about the care, or lack thereof, Maleah received. Court documents show that the girl and her siblings were removed from the home by child protective services early last year.
“Ain’t no way in hell a parent with common sense would have handled this entire situation the way Brittany handled this entire situation,” he added.
The activist also pointed to Bowens’ changing behavior, noting how she cried and appeared distraught for the cameras but was “always calm, fluid, clear” when they spoke in private.
“There was not a lot of tears,” Quanell told KHOU 11. “Now, whenever there was a public thing, she would always break down.”
Bowens recently responded to angry critics who questioned why she would leave her daughter in Vence’s care amid her suspicions that he was abusing the little girl. Quanell spoke on her behalf at a press conference earlier this month, saying Bowens had broken off her engagement with Vence, 26, after confronting him about sexually explicit photos he had sent to men.
“In my mind, whatever we had going on, had nothing to do with the children,” Bowens told KHOU in a recent interview.
The distraught mother said she didn’t want to believe her ex-lover was involved in Maleah’s disappearance.
“I would rather think that somebody took my child, than believe that somebody had done something to her,” she added.
Police said they don’t believe the little girl is still alive but have vowed to keep looking for her.
Quanell said Maleah’s mother will eventually have to come forward with what she knows.
“[Bowens] knows the truth,” he said. “She knows eventually she’s going to have to give an answer for that.”
Police are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to Davis’ whereabouts.
Watch more in the video below.
