Texas activist Quanell X said he believes additional charges are coming in the death of missing 4-year-old Houston girl Maleah Davis.
Quanell, who gleaned the shocking confession from suspect Derion Vence in the young girl’s disappearance, appeared on CNN’s Headline News this week and shared new details on the jailhouse meeting that led to the discovery of Davis’ remains last week.
“[Vence] was very arrogant, to be honest with you,” the activist told HLN’s Lynn Smith on Tuesday. “No remorse; he was just straight arrogant. There was nothing good that he said about Maleah. He wasn’t in pain or anything like that.”
On Monday, the remains were positively identified as Davis’ after being found in a trash bag alongside a freeway road in Hope, Arkansas — about 310 miles from Houston, on Friday. Quanell said Vence, 27, had confessed to him that Maleah’s death was “an accident” and that he dumped the child’s body on the side of the road.
Her cause and manner of death are still unknown.
Vence remains the sole person charged in Davis’ disappearance, but Quanell said he believes “others” should be held accountable as well.
“I don’t want to jeopardize anyone being convicted in this case, because someone does — and others need to be charged in this case also, for their subsequent roles they played after the death of Maleah,” he said.
Quanell didn’t specify the “others,” but said he’s shared information with investigators about who he thinks should be charged.
The local activist was once a vocal supporter and spokesman for Davis’ mother, Brittany Bowens, but cut ties with the woman last month over his fears she wasn’t being truthful about the case. On Tuesday, he reiterated his belief that Bowens, who was once engaged to Vence, knows far more about her daughter’s demise than she initially let on.
When asked if he believes Bowens will face charges, Quanell replied: “Yes.”
“I have proof of what she said and what she admitted to,” he said of the mom. “I do believe she’ll be charged and she should be charged. And if there’s any ounce of decency in her as a mother, she has to own up to the complicit, negligent role she played in the demise of Maleah.”
Court documents show Child Protective Services removed the 4-year-old and and her siblings from the apartment Bowens and Vence shared after the girl suffered a head injury officials said was the result of “possible physical abuse” last year. The children were returned to the home in February, according to an agency spokesman.
In May, Vence claimed he, his 1-year-old son and Maleah were carjacked by three Latino men on their way to the airport to retrieve Bowens, who was out of town for a funeral. The Texas man told police he was knocked unconscious during the attack and awoke to find his car and Maleah gone.
Vence was later arrested and jailed after investigators said they found traces of blood matching DNA from Maleah’s toothbrush in the family’s apartment. Still, he insists “nothing bad happened” to the little girl.
In a recent jail interview, Vence said, “I ain’t no killer, bro.”
“I loved Maleah so much. I did for her more than her own parents,” he told Houston’s ABC 13 from jail. “I never had a biological daughter. I would never do anything to hurt her. That’s not me. Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you I’m not that type of dude and I was good with the kids.”
The suspect argued he “should be home with my family. With Maleah, the kids and Brittany, cooking dinner and watching Netflix.”
Vence remains behind bars on a charge of tampering with evidence, namely, a corpse. He’s being held on $45,000 bond.
Watch more in the video below.
The remains of 4-year-old Maleah Davis have been found. Houston activist Quanell X tells @LynnSmithTV about the jailhouse conversation that helped lead police to her body and why he believes infidelity was the spark that triggered this terrible chain of events. pic.twitter.com/xH4qCyAgOB
— HLN (@HLNTV) June 4, 2019
