Maleah Davis
Derion Marquise Vence, 28, remains at the Harris County Jail in Texas, but as with any defendant, he will have to follow certain conditions if he posts the $90,000 bond in the death of Maleah Davis, 4. He appeared at hearing on Friday, according to Click 2 Houston. The judge approved the state’s requests, including that the defendant–who used to date the victim’s mother–stay away from her Maleah’s family, stay away from kids younger than 17, do random drug tests, and keep on a GPS monitor. In another demand, prosecutors asked that he stay in Harris County and the contiguous counties.
Back in May 2019, Vence was held on a $1 million, but that was dropped away the down to $45,000 for a count of tampering with evidence (human corpse). He was later indicted on a count of serious bodily injury to a child. Prosecutors said the defendant hit Maleah, and the child fell to the floor. He did not take her to a hospital, authorities said.
Derion Vence
One thing that remains up in the air is whether there will be a homicide charge. There had been public expectation, analysis and speculation that Vence could be charged with murder. Houston police said that the defendant reported Maleah missing. Vence allegedly claimed that three Hispanic men kidnapped the child while he, Maleah, and Maleah’s two-year-old brother were heading to the airport to pick up the children’s mother. Investigators assert that this story fell apart. They said cadaver dogs responded to the trunk of the Nissan Altima the defendant had ostensibly been driving during the alleged abduction. Authorities also claimed that Vence was seen carrying a full laundry basket from his apartment. That basket was allegedly located in the Altima trunk with a gas can. There was blood in the apartment, they said. Maleah’s body turned up in a plastic bag in Arkansas, but horrifically, lawn mowers had run over her remains amid the actual discovery.
[Image via Houston Police Department]
