Police: Stepfather claims missing Texas girl was abducted by men who let him and his 2-year-old son go free
Search intensifies for 4-year-old Maleah Davis who was last seen on May 3; Casey Stegall reports from Dallas.
The primary suspect in the death of Maleah Davis said "nothing bad happened" to the 4-year-old Texas toddler, whose remains were discovered in Arkansas last week.
Speaking from jail, Derion Vence said he "ain't no killer, bro."
BODY FOUND IN ARKANSAS IDENTIFIED AS MALEAH DAVIS
"I loved Maleah so much. I did for her more than her own parents. 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," Vence, 27, told KTRK.
Derion Vence, 27, remains jailed on a charge of tampering with evidence, specifically a human corpse in connection with Maleah Davis' death.
(Houston Police Department)
He added: "I should be home with my family. With Maleah, the kids and Brittany, cooking dinner and watching Netflix."
In early May, Vence, the ex-fiance of Maleah’s mother Brittany Bowens, claimed he, Maleah, and his 2-year-old son were taken against their will by a group of men in a truck. Vence said he and his son were freed the next day, but the kidnappers kept Maleah.
MALEAH DAVIS' MOM BLAMES HER BOYFRIEND FOR DISAPPEARANCE, SAYS SPOKESMAN
Investigators said Vence's story repeatedly changed and didn't add up.
On Monday, Maleah's remains were positively identified after being found in a garbage bag near a freeway outside the town of Hope, Ark., which is located about 30 miles northeast of the Texas-Arkansas border on Friday.
Quanell X, a community activist in Houston, sparked the search in Arkansas after he said Vence told him he disposed of the 4-year-old's body in the southern state. Quanell X declined to comment on what Vence told him regarding how Maleah died, but he said Vence insisted what happened to her was “an accident.”
Bowens previously accused Vence of abusing Maleah. Child Protective Services removed Maleah and her brothers from the apartment Vence and Bowens shared in August after the girl suffered a head wound, but the children were returned in February, an agency spokeswoman told The Associated Press.
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After a canceled court appearance by Vence on May 13, Bowens was heckled outside the courtroom by people who questioned if she had done enough to protect her daughter before her disappearance.
"It's not fair. It's not fair at all. I just, I just don't understand this," Bowens told KTRK earlier this week. "It's not fair, because she didn't deserve that."
Vence remains jailed on a charge of tampering with evidence, specifically a human corpse. He's being held on a $45,000 bond.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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