Accused child killer, Mario Andrette McNeill: 'Release me'

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Fayetteville, N.C. — A man charged with raping and killing a 5-year-old Fayetteville girl has requested his release while awaiting trial.

"Release me. It's easiest," Mario Andrette McNeill said in a hand-written note from Central Prison in Raleigh, where he is being held for his own safety.

McNeill, 30, was arrested in November 2009 on charges he kidnapped, raped and murdered Shaniya Davis. Her body was found in a kudzu patch near the Lee-Harnett county line six days after she disappeared from her Fayetteville home.

An autopsy determined that Shaniya died of asphyxiation and that injuries she suffered were consistent with a sexual assault. A medical examiner noted in the autopsy that investigators believe the girl was used to pay off a drug debt.

Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, 26, was charged with human trafficking, felony child abuse–prostitution, filing a false police report and obstructing a police investigation. Arrest warrants state that Davis "did knowingly provide Shaniya with the intent that she be held in sexual servitude" and "did permit an act of prostitution with Shaniya."

A grand jury hasn't yet indicted McNeill or Antoinette Davis in the case, and no trial dates can be set until then. The Cumberland County grand jury meets next on June 13.

McNeill addressed his request "To Whom This May Concern" and mailed it to the Cumberland County Clerk of Court.

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A grand jury hasn't yet indicted McNeill or Antoinette Davis in the case, and no trial dates can be set until then. The Cumberland County grand jury meets next on June 13

I would like to know why neither one has been charged and tried yet.

WHAT!??? Not indicted yet!?

This poor little girl has simply had ZERO justice from day one. Her father is as much to blame as her "mother" IMHO.

Who do I contact? I want to scream at someone. What is the hold up? They had better not release this monster. And is the NOT Mom still out there making more babies?

Man accused of murdering Shaniya Davis wants to be released from prison

The letter written by Mario McNeill requesting release from prison.

By Nancy McCleary
Staff writer

The man accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering Shaniya Davis wants to be released from Central Prison in Raleigh, where he is awaiting trial.

The letter, received by the Clerk of Superior Court's office in January, is three lines long.

"To whom this may concern; Release me. It's easiest."

It's signed by Mario A. McNeill, written in cursive and printed beneath that signature.

McNeill, 30, was charged in November 2009 with first-degree murder, first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping.

He is being represented by two lawyers from the state's Office of Indigent Defense Services.

One of them, Terry Alford of Spring Hope, said Wednesday that was aware of the letter and why McNeill wrote it but that he could not comment.

McNeill has been held at Central Prison as a safekeeping measure since his arrest.

Five-year-old Shaniya was reported missing from her home on in Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park off Murchison Road on Nov. 10.

The last person to see Shaniya was her mother, Antoinette Davis, who called police at 6:53 a.m. that day.

Three days later, police released video surveillance pictures taken at a Sanford hotel that showed McNeill holding Shaniya in his arms while waiting on an elevator.

The photo was time-stamped at 6:11 a.m. Nov. 10. McNeill turned himself into lawmen on Nov. 13 but did not reveal Shaniya's whereabouts.

Shaniya's mother, Davis, was arrested Nov. 14 and charged human trafficking felony child abuse.

"She (Davis) reportedly owed money to McNeill and offered the daughter in exchange for forgiveness of her debt," a medical examiner wrote on Shaniya's autopsy report.

Shaniya's body was found Nov. 16 in woods off Walker Road, just southeast of Sanford.

The autopsy report revealed that she was suffocated.

Davis is out of jail on bail while she awaits her court hearing.

Neither McNeill nor Davis has yet been indicted by the grand jury, which must happen before the cases can be tried.

Staff writer Nancy McCleary can be reached at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] or 486-3568.

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Fayetteville, NC -- A man sitting in prison in connection to the death of a 5-year-old wants to be set free.

Mario McNeill sent a hand-written note from the Central Prison in Raleigh to the Cumberland County Clerk of Court. According to WRAL-TV, the note said "Release me. It's easiest," and was addressed to "To Whom This May Concern."

McNeill and Antoinette Davis face charges in connection to the death of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis. The child disappeared in November 2009 and was found dead several days later in a wooded area of Lee County. An autopsy showed she was asphyxiated and sexually assaulted.

McNeill is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping. Davis was charged with filing a false police report, trafficking her daughter and child abuse involving prostitution. She posted a $51,000 bond in February 2010.

A grand jury hasn't indicted McNeill or Davis. Until they do, a trial date can't be set.

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I have several google searches saying he was charged with rape and murder charges in 2009. I went looking for just what he is being held for if he has not been charged with her murder. LE has to have tons of evidence linking him to Shaniya body.
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I don't understand this. What would hold them up from indicting both the "mother" and this creep?

Exactly. They are holding him all this time for something.

Thanks for the above, LM.

This trial is WAY overdue.