DALLAS (KRLD) - The man suspected in the death of a four-year-old Houston girl says he's no killer.
Derion Vance says, "nothing bad happened" to Maleah Davis, who's remains were recovered Friday in Southwest Arkansas, where he allegedly told someone he left them. Davis is charged with tampering with evidence, specifically a human corpse. Houston Attorney Brian Wice expects that will soon be upgraded to capital murder....the punishment is either life with no chance of parole or death. "I don't know that Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg will seek the death penalty given the fact that Mr. Vence does not have a prior criminal history."
He says a factor about the imposition of the ultimate punishment is a matter of geography. "If it was a small county or smaller county, or even other major metropolitan areas, then the decision might be a different decision than that which Harris County DA Kim Ogg will ultimately make."
Maleah's mother Brittany Bowens previously accused Vence, her former fiancee, of abusing Maleah. In August, Maleah suffered a head would and CPS removed Maleah and her brothers Vence and Bowens apartment. The children were returned in February.
Wice says she could be charged with anything from child endangerment to injury to a child.