The brother of the man suspected in the disappearance of 4-year-old Maleah Davis said: “he wants the world to know he’s innocent.”
Joe Vence, who spoke to his brother Derion Vence for 20 minutes said he isn’t worried because God has his brother’s back. “Once God is with you, the whole world, the whole city, everybody can be against you,” Joe Vence told KTRK. “We’re a strong, praying family. God is on our side. God is with my brother.”
Derion Vence was arrested and charged with tampering with evidence, namely a corpse, a week after he told investigators Davis was kidnapped.
The case began on May 3 when police say Vence told them he was on the way to Bush Intercontinental Airport with Maleah and his 1-year-old son to pick up Brittany Bowens, the mother of Maleah. Vence claims that two Hispanic men ambushed One of the men commented, “Maleah looks very nice, looks very sweet.” The other one hit Vence and knocked him out.
When he woke up 24 hours later Vence told police his son was there, but Maleah was gone. Vence said he walked to a nearby hospital and reported Maleah missing.
However, evidence gathered in the case doesn’t match the story Vence told the police. Surveillance footage shows him being dropped off to the hospital he says he walked to, in the vehicle he said was stolen during his abduction.
The car was later found in a shopping mall’s parking lot, about 5 miles from where Vence said he woke up.
According to ABC 13, When authorities inspected the vehicle, they discovered a blue laundry basket along with a gas can, according to probable cause documents in Vence’s arrest. Police also had two separate dogs trained to pick up the smell of cadavers walk around the vehicle and other vehicles in the parking lot. Both dogs barked at the trunk of the Altima, the documents state, indicating the “scent of decomposition in the vehicle.”
Although the search for Maleah continues, the authorities do not believe she is still alive.
Vence’s bond was originally set at nearly $1 million on Saturday, but it was lowered Monday to $45,000.
