Warning: This article contains references to child abuse and murder.
In 2009, Antoinette Davis of North Carolina violated the understanding that mothers always protect their children when her 5-year-old daughter, Shaniya Davis, was found murdered. Antoinette was not directly responsible for her daughter’s death, but a sad act of desperation lead Antoinette to put her child in harm’s way.
At first, Antoinette reported her daughter missing, and falsely accused her boyfriend at the time, according to The Fayetteville Observer. Soon, surveillance footage was discovered showing Mario Andrette McNeill, an acquaintance of Antoinette, carrying Shaniya across the lobby of a nearby hotel. McNeill did not abduct Shaniya, however. As the investigation revealed, Antoinette allowed him to take her.
Within a matter of days, all hope was lost when the child’s body was found. She had been raped and strangled, and both McNeill and Antoinette were arrested. Per The Fayetteville Observer, Davis told the police, “All [McNeill] was supposed to do was have sex with her.”
Antoinette Davis owed McNeill money
In 2013, Antoinette Davis, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree sex offense and other charges in a plea deal. She received a 17 year prison sentence, The Fayetteville Observer reported. Mario Andrette McNeill was sentenced to death row for his crime. What could possibly motivate Antoinette to offer up her own young daughter, Shaniya Davis, for sex work? She owed McNeill money.
Notably, Antoinette plead guilty in what’s called an Alford plea, per ABC11.com, a legal distinction meaning the defendant realizes there’s sufficient evidence to reach a conviction, but does not fully admit their guilt. As a result, a first-degree murder charge against Antoinette was dropped. If the trial had otherwise gone as planned, she could have received three consecutive life sentences for the role she played in her daughter’s death.
At her sentencing hearing, Antoinette said (via ABC11), “I never said I was a perfect mother, but I was a good mother. I did what I had to do to provide. I did what I had to do to make sure they were alright. I didn’t have any help from anybody.”
Davis’ appeal was denied
In 2014, Antoinette Davis — sentenced to at least 17 years in prison for circumstances surrounding her daughter, Shaniya Davis’ murder — appealed the decision, but her request was denied, ABC11.com reported. Per The Fayetteville Observer, as of 2019, she would remain behind bars in North Carolina until at least 2027.
In 2013, Davis’ lawyer, D.W. Bray described his client as an “inmate of great behavior.” He said, “[Antoinette] took the plea because this was in her best interest … She had no prior criminal behavior coming into this, no significant contact with the law coming into this,” Bray added.
At her sentencing hearing, however, Judge Jim Ammons reportedly told Antoinette (per the Observer), “You could have saved your daughter’s life, but you did not. You had the opportunity and the means to save Shaniya’s life, and you did not … You are not a good mother. This did not have to happen.”
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
