Shaniya Nicole Davis #3 1/22/12 -

[MuffyBee]

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9051858
Court docs: Shaniya Davis' aunt dated alleged killer
April 3, 2013

 ::snipping2::
In 2009, 5-year-old Shaniya Davis was given up by her mother to settle a drug debt. The little girl was raped and murdered and dumped in the woods.

Mario McNeill, her accused murderer, goes on trial Monday. In an attempt to delay the trial, stacks of last-minute motions were filed this week.

Through court documents, ABC11 learned that McNeill may have known Shaniya's family long before her murder.

Defense attorneys have requested a physical examination of the child's now 23-year-old aunt, who admits to dating McNeill for three months, prior to Shaniya's murder.

The state claims pornographic images of a minor were found on McNeill's cell phone. McNeill says the photos are of Shaniya's aunt. He denies the woman was a child at the time the pictures were taken. Shaniya's aunt denies that the photos are of her. 

Because of the pornography, McNeill faces second and third-degree child sexual exploitation charges, on top of numerous others related to Shaniya's kidnapping, rape, and murder.

A ruling this week has McNeill facing the child sexual exploitation charges once the murder trial is over.

Another defense request blames faulty Fayetteville Police Department equipment for gaps in McNeill's recorded interrogation following the murder. The defense suggests police questioned McNeill without advising him of his rights. The software consultant and company writes, someone physically pressed stop on the recorder and the DVD system had a bug.

The defense wants all of McNeill's interrogation statements thrown out of the trial. The judge will rule on that on Monday.

Also among the thousands of pages of motions was a handwritten note from McNeill to the Cumberland County Clerk's office, received in January. It reads:

"TO WHOM THIS MAY CONCERN,

THE HARD WAY IS HOW YOU WANT IT.

TISK TASK"

Dozens of witnesses will be called during the trial, which is expected to last three months.  Witnesses range from family members to detectives, and even investigators in the Virgin Islands.

Jury selection begins Monday and is expected to last two to three weeks.
(Link in article with 27 images)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/04/07/1234145?sac=fo.local
On eve of Shaniya Davis murder trial, her father wonders what could have been
April 7, 2013

The father of Shaniya Davis says he has forgiven her mother.

But Bradley Lockhart said he often finds himself reflecting on what might have been, four years after Shaniya was raped and killed in a case that has attracted national attention.

Shaniya would have turned 9 on Valentine's Day.

"We were extremely close," Lockhart said. "Shaniya spent the majority of time with me and her siblings. You miss those days. The first day she got on a bicycle. Her brother pushing her around with training wheels on it. You miss her scratching your car with a scooter. You miss birthdays. You wonder who she would be today.

"It's extremely hard when you see other kids in the neighborhood and watch them grow up. That's one of my frequent thoughts when I sit on my porch."

On Monday, the capital murder trial for Mario Andrette McNeill, the man accused of killing Shaniya, is scheduled to begin in Cumberland County Superior Court.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/04/11/1249788?sac=fo.local
2 more jurors seated in Shaniya Davis murder trial
April 12, 2013

Two more jurors were selected Thursday in the capital murder trial of Mario McNeill, and one previously selected was released, bringing the number of seated jurors to eight.

"All right. We're rolling backward now," said Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons, who is trying the case.

McNeill, 32, is accused of raping and killing 5-year-old Shaniya Davis in November 2009.

Thus far, the seated jury includes five women and three men.

Court resumes today at 9:30 a.m.

 ::snipping2::

On Thursday, 27 more prospective jurors were excused.

Twelve regular jurors must be seated along with three or four alternates before testimony begins.

One of the seven jurors who was seated Wednesday was excused Thursday after she told the judge that her job would not pay her while she served on jury duty. The case is expected to run six to eight weeks.

The jurors selected Wednesday are expected to be brought back to the courthouse today because of concerns about possible exposure to news media. Ammons made the decision Wednesday after a prospective juror said she had looked at headlines and accompanying photographs on the front of The Fayetteville ******* in a newspaper box near an entrance to the Cumberland County Courthouse.

She told the court there were other prospective jurors with her at the time.

Ammons referred to it as "the newspaper box incident" on Thursday, before reminding potential jurors that they must avoid news from the media.

"You can read the sports or comics. If you want to know what the weather is," he said, "just look out the window."

McNeill is facing seven charges, including first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child. Authorities say Shaniya's mother handed over her child to McNeill to settle a drug debt, then falsely reported her child was missing. McNeill is accused of taking the girl to a Sanford hotel and assaulting her before dumping her body off N.C. 87 in Harnett County.

The mother, Antoniette Nicole Davis, 28, faces similar charges and is awaiting trial.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/04/15/1250604?sac=fo.local
12 potenial jurors sent home in Shaniya Davis case Monday
April 16, 2013

Another juror was selected Monday in the Mario McNeill capital murder trial, bringing the number of seated jurors to 10.

Twelve jurors are needed, plus an additional three or four alternates, before testimony begins.

Jury selection resumes at 9:30 a.m. today in Cumberland County Superior Court.
 ::snipping2::
When the defense excused a white female potential juror Monday afternoon, Judge Jim Ammons expressed concern that the defense had shown a pattern of using peremptory challenges to block whites from serving on the jury.

It is illegal to dismiss a juror based on race.

The seated jury is split down the middle with five blacks and five whites.

Defense lawyer Terry Alford explained their reasoning behind the challenges, and Assistant District Attorney Robby Hicks told Ammons those reasons were sufficient.

"I want to make sure it's done properly," Ammons said.

On Monday, 19 potential jurors were excused.

One potential juror became emotional as the defense questioned her, remarking "that she (Shaniya) was so young." Another said he took medication that affects his concentration.

The trial, which began April 8 with jury selection, is expected to run about seven more weeks.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9071963
Twist in Shaniya Davis murder case
April 19, 2013

 ::snipping2::
Mario McNeill could face the death penalty in the 2009 kidnapping, rape and murder of Shaniya Davis.

A jury is seated in the trial, but Friday morning, during a hearing, the public and press were asked to leave.

The move came after the state and defense began to disagree Thursday afternoon on whether to allow information into evidence pertaining to McNeill leading investigators to the child's body.

At a motions hearing Friday morning, Judge Jim Ammons unexpectedly cleared the courtroom.

"The matter has come to my attention that requires me, in the interest of justice, with no available means to me, to require this court to be closed to everyone except the parties that are involved," the judge explained.

Reporters were ordered out for about 15 minutes, let in for a couple of minutes, and then we learned the hearing has been continued until first thing Monday morning, which is when the court expected to begin opening statements.

Now the jury will not report until Monday afternoon. So far, there's been no clue as to what's behind the continuance.

McNeill faces first-degree murder, first-degree rape of a child, first-degree kidnapping, human trafficking with a child victim, sexual servitude with a child victim, sexual offense of a child and indecent liberties with a child charges related to Davis' death.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Authorities said the girl's body was dumped just off N.C. Highway 87 near the Lee-Harnett County line.

The trial is expected to be lengthy, with the state alone expected to argue two to three weeks. The state has 357 tagged exhibits.
Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wral.com/mental-claim-delays-fayetteville-death-penalty-trial/12365061/
Mental claim delays Fayetteville death penalty trial
Posted April 21, 2013, Updated April 22, 2013

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — The capital murder trial of Mario Andrette McNeill has been delayed for at least a week while McNeill undergoes a mental evaluation.

McNeill, 32, is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping in the death of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis.

Opening statements were set to begin Monday afternoon, but Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons told jurors not to come back until next Monday.

Defense attorneys raised a question Monday morning about McNeill's "capacity to proceed" and included an assessment of McNeill by Durham psychologist James Hilkey, who also evaluated Robert Stewart, who received a life sentence for killing eight people at a Carthage nursing home in 2009.

Ammons directed doctors from Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro and Central Regional Hospital in Butner, two state mental hospitals, to confer with Hilkey and conduct an independent evaluation of McNeill over the next few days.

The judge said he would hold a hearing Friday to determine whether the trial will proceed.
 ::snipping2::
Two weeks ago, McNeill rejected a deal offered by prosecutors to guarantee a life prison sentence if he pleaded guilty. His attorneys said he maintains his innocence.

Defense attorneys also challenged his statement to police, saying prosecutors promised his original attorney that they wouldn't seek the death penalty if McNeill helped them locate Shaniya's body. Prosecutors have denied any such agreement.

That motion was supposed to be handled last Friday, but Ammons closed the courtroom briefly to address what a court administrator described as a legal issue about attorney-client privilege.

Media organizations, including Capitol Broadcasting Co., the parent company of WRAL News, filed a motion challenging the decision to close the courtroom, saying he never made a specific finding "of any compelling interest in closing the courtroom" to meet standards imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court for shutting out the public.

Ammons defended the move Monday, saying he did it as a last resort.

"To avoid public disclosure of sensitive information that might prevent the parties from having a fair trial, I did find that there was no less restrictive means in protecting this interest, and the scope of the closure was held to 15 minutes," he said.

He could address that issue on Friday – the media want a transcript of the closed hearing – as well as the defense request to suppress McNeill's statement to police.

Investigators say Davis sold her daughter to McNeill to pay off a drug debt.

She is charged with first-degree murder, indecent liberties with a child, felony child abuse, felony sexual servitude, rape of a child, sexual offense of a child by an adult offender, human trafficking and making a false police report.

Her trial will be held after McNeill's case is over, and prosecutors aren't seeking the death penalty against her.

Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/12367575/#/vid12367575
Judge orders psychiatric exam of accused child killer

The capital murder trial of Mario Andrette McNeill has been delayed for at least a week while McNeill undergoes a mental evaluation.

Monday - 4:48pm (April 21, 2013)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/04/24/1252366?sac=fo.local
Shaniya Davis case: Evaluation of McNeill's competency just before trial called an unusal move
April 24, 2013

A decision this week to stop the murder trial of Mario McNeill so he could be evaluated by medical professionals was unusual because of its timing, some legal experts say.

Questions about a defendant's competency to proceed are usually raised before a trial begins, said retired Cumberland County Superior Court Judge E. Lynn Johnson.

Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons delayed proceedings in McNeill's capital murder trial on Monday. A jury has been picked, and opening statements were expected that afternoon.

McNeill, 32, is accused of raping and killing 5-year-old Shaniya Davis in November 2009.

"You would have thought these issues would have come up at an earlier state. If it were observed by family members, the lawyer staff, jailers. There could be a host of things," Johnson said. "Was he on medication and has come off medication? Did incarceration lead to it?"

Carl Ivarsson, a longtime Fayetteville lawyer, agreed, calling it "fairly unusual" for questions about a defendant's competency to arise once a trial is under way.

"Usually, that issue is resolved much earlier. Competency doesn't come up often, but it's important," Ivarsson said. "The defendant has got to know the nature of the proceedings against him."

A motions hearing in the case has been recessed until 9:30 a.m. Friday at the earliest.

Ammons delayed the trial in response to a motion by defense lawyers during a hearing Monday. The motion regards "the capacity of the defendant to proceed" with the trial.

The motion has been sealed by the court, the court clerk said.

On Monday, Ammons referred to an evaluation of McNeill that had been conducted earlier, apparently at the request of McNeill's lawyers. Neither the judge nor the defense discussed what led to the evaluation.

Ammons told Ellen Hancox, the trial court administrator, that he has never dealt with this issue in Cumberland County but he has ruled on the capacity of a defendant to proceed in other counties. Ammons will not discuss the McNeill case with reporters while the trial is going on.

Members of the Shaniya Davis family could not be reached for comment.

Juanita Ball, McNeill's mother, has declined to speak to reporters.
State law says no one can be tried, convicted, sentenced or punished for a crime "by reason of mental illness or defect" when the defendant is unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against him, to comprehend his situation or to assist in his defense in a rational or reasonable manner. That condition is known as "incapacity to proceed."

Mental incapacity to proceed is different from an insanity defense.

Generally, Ivarsson said, it takes the opinion of a mental health professional, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist, to determine that a defendant lacks the competency to proceed.

In McNeill's case, Ammons mentioned doctors at Central Regional Hospital in Butner and Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro who may evaluate McNeill. Those are psychiatric facilities.

A representative of clinical services with Cherry Hospital said he could not discuss the process used to evaluate a patient for capacity to proceed in a court case.

Ivarsson said once a defendant is evaluated, a competency hearing is held to determine whether the defendant is able to go to trial.

"If the defendant is incapable of proceeding," he said, "then the court proceeding is delayed until he becomes capable to proceed."

Johnson, the retired judge, said the evaluation can take up to 60 days.

"Typically, it won't last that long," he said. "I would say it depends upon the severity of the illness involved or they understand he is feigning, which happens on occasion."

The defendant's lawyers, family members and psychiatric records are among the potential sources for information in an evaluation.

Johnson said psychiatric tests will likely be run and McNeill may be interviewed several times.

The prosecution also has the opportunity to have the defendant evaluated by a psychiatrist.
More...

[MuffyBee]

It's just my opinion and I of course don't have all the information, but it seems to me this last minute evaluation of McNeill's competency is because there is so much evidence against him, it's all the defense can do at this point.   Of course, if McNeill has done something to himself that has caused him to be impaired, that could be something I suppose.  From what I've read and can understand, this isn't an insanity plea, but one of questioning McNeill's ability to understand nature of the proceedings against him.  The article above mentions the possibility of him coming off medication (if he was on any), or if his incarceration led to it.  Now the jury's been chosen, all ready to go and now this.  Interesting timing...

Praying justice for Shaniya will prevail.   

[Sister]

I agree Muffy   
I hope it is not just a delay tactic.
 ::justice2NJ::

[Tina Bee]

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/04/26/1253042

Judge rules Mario McNeill competent to stand trial for murder of Shaniya Davis

[cookie]

Little Shaniya...think of you often little one...I hope you get the justice that you deserve. I wish you had been mine. I would have loved you and protected you always...

[MuffyBee]

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/04/26/1253042

Judge rules Mario McNeill competent to stand trial for murder of Shaniya Davis

Thank you for the update Tina Bee.  I hope this will get things back on track for justice for Shaniya.   ::justice2NJ::

[Nut44x4]

Updated: 4:47 p.m. yesterday
 
Analysts: Soil ties man to site where Shaniya Davis' body found

Fayetteville, N.C. — State analysts said Tuesday that soil found in a Fayetteville man's car likely came from a rural location where the body of a 5-year-old girl was found more than three years ago.

Mario Andrette McNeill, 32, is charged with murder, kidnapping and rape in the death of Shaniya Davis. He could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.
 

Heather Hanna, a geologist with the North Carolina Geological Survey, testified that she compared a sample of soil that investigators collected from the gas pedal of McNeill's car with samples from the kudzu patch and found metallic fibers in both.

Roberto Garcia, a materials engineer at North Carolina State University, said the fibers appear to have come from a braided metal wire, such as a truck winch.

Hanna conducted electron micro-analysis of the soil samples at Fayetteville State University and determined that the mineral garnet also was present in all of them. Soil from McNeill's home and Shaniya's home didn't have the same composition as what was found in McNeill's car, she said.

"I would say it's highly unlikely they did not come from the same source," she said of the soil from the car and the kudzu patch.

Garcia echoed her comment.

Defense attorney Butch Pope questioned Hanna as to the extent of garnet in the region.

"I would not expect there to be garnet in the area of Fayetteville," she said, citing geological studies and maps.

Pope noted that soil on the floor mats of McNeill's car weren't tested and that the brake pedal was "squeaky clean."

"The floor mats would not have affected my interpretation of the gas pedal," Hanna responded.
   more
http://www.wral.com/analysts-soil-ties-man-to-site-where-shaniya-davis-body-found/12443897/

[MuffyBee]

Hoping and praying for justice for Shaniya.    

[texasmom]

Hoping and praying for justice for Shaniya.    

 

[Sister]

Hoping and praying for justice for Shaniya.    

 

[Magnolia]

I think of this beautiful child so often.   

I so hope that she gets justice. 

[MuffyBee]

I think of this beautiful child so often.   

I so hope that she gets justice. 

 
 

Me too. 

[cookie]

I think of this beautiful child so often.   

I so hope that she gets justice. 

 
 

Me too. 

Me three!
This case haunts me...