mcneill. first-degree murder, first-degree rape of a child. the criminal investigation's surrounding this unfortunate tragedy continues as the task force follows up on many numerous leads and gathers additional information pertaining to the investigation. as such in an effort to protect the integrity of the investigation and not jeopardize the criminal prosecution of any pending charges, we will not discuss many details of the investigation. it is our sincere hope that the davis family may now begin to put this horrific event behind them and begin the healing process. i would like to take a moment to thank mr. grantis, ms. susan doyle of the lee county district attorney's office. and two gentlemen standing behind me, captain charles kimball and captain marge bridgman as they have headed up this task force for the last eight days and will continue to do so until we get where we need to be. >> how about ms. davis? >> we're still -- we're still currently doing an investigation. i have no comment

mcneill. picture there on your screen in the murder, we now know, cause of death asphyxiation. the strangling or suffocation death of 5-year-old shaniya. also tonight the bombshell, rape charges on this child, also leveled against mcneill. right now police are not saying whether the mother, who allegedly handed her child over for child prostitution, to this man, there she is antoinette davis, whether she will also be charged with murder. but they are very carefully stating this is an ongoing investigation. we are taking your calls live and we'll be right back. >>> members of the shaniya davis task force received confirmation from the state medical's examiner's office on the ruling, on the manner of the death of shaniya davis as a homicide. the preliminary tests results, asphyxiation as the cause of death. however, at this time, all examinations and testing have not been completed, therefore, a final report has not been issued. we met with the district attorney, ed grannis, margaret russ, and a

that is 29-year-old mario andrette mcneill. he's got $100,000 bond tonight. carrying little kidnapped shaniya into a hotel room. gurnal scott, how long did he stay in that hotel room that we know of? the video surveillance should reveal it. >> yeah. from what we know, that mario mcneill and shaniya davis only stayed in the hotel for about an hour. as soon as police found out that that video existed, they made a

reports emerge mommy owed mcneill money and speaking of mcneill, why was he walking free, able to taket place? he has a rap sheet a mile long, including shooting several people, one in the head and neck, dope, of course, and running over a cop. why wasn't he in maximum security instead of checking into a hotel with a 5-year-old girl? and tonight, we confirm another twist. after repeat inspections of mommy's house by dfcs, no one bothered to tell shaniya's dad. he had no idea. why did mommy pull the 5 qulld out of school in october? as soon as daddy leaves town? red flags everywhere. tonight, as police hint more charges to come, there really are no words to describe this mother. she doesn't even deserve the compliment of mother. her and her cohorts animalistic behavior screams out for the north carolina death penalty. at this hour, as that tiny body still sits in a cold morgue, we want justice for shaniya. >> we remember driving through here earlier and smelling something pretty nasty so we came back to check it and sure enough there were dear carcasses and trash and some of the officer

mcneill. as well as mr. mcneill. >> the girl is dead. do you think i care about the mother? do you think i care about that woman? that i'm paying for her cot and her three hots? no, i don't care about her being in trouble. and to you, anne bremner. i assume the defense will use her pregnancy to their advantage. right? >> i don't know. i think you're going to hear a lot of people say there's a special place in hell for both of these people. we don't have all of the dots -- or the connecting the dots and the evidence right now, but what you just brought up was excellent. felony murder. and the best defense of her right now, nancy, is that she's not charged with felony murder. that may happen. and of course robbery -- or excuse me, rape or the kidnapping. other felonies could lead to the death penalty in north carolina. so the best defense for her right now is where she is based upon the charges of class c felonies and misdemeanors. the reason they haven't been charged with felony murder yet, to the two defense attorneys, is because we're waiting for the formal autopsy identifi

mcneill taking shaniya into the hotel room. you'd think there is some video, somebody exiting the hotel room. >> well, michelle sigona. we're saying allegedly because you know i can't certainly identify this blurry image the cops say that's him. what do you know about the exit of the hotel. >> well what i can tell you, last wednesday night someone from the hotel contacted investigators to say, hey, we think shaniya may have been here yesterday. investigators got out there. they had a little bit of problem cracking the surveillance code but once they were in, they were able to pull out their surveillance and able to show those pictures and some of that video to shaniya's father, bradley. and bradley told me just a couple of nights ago. he said, i was the one who was able to identify that, yes, that was my daughter. as far as mario mcneill's concerned, investigators did their own investigating around to figure out who he was. now having said all of that, they were able to put out some of those photos to the media to be able to ge

we've got mcneill taking her into a hotel room. all right. we know for a fact he's in the hotel room. i think we're going to show you that video, liz. we know he's in the hotel room for about one hour with the girl. there we go. he leaves with the girl. she's still alive apparently as they leave. now, it doesn't make sense to me that he sells her into prostitution to say somebody out of town and then she turns up dead in a local ravine. that doesn't make sense. if he's really sold her to somebody, why don't they take her away, take her to mexico, take her to new york? let her blend in with the crowd. that says to me this murder is close to home, gurnal scott. what do you think? >> there is a -- that is a very compelling case. and as you mentioned earlier, we still don't know who else may be involved in this. there was a news conference scheduled for today. the police department in fayetteville said new information, pushed that news conference to tomorrow. are there other people that are going to be charged in this case? will the murder charge

they don't need her to roll over on mcneill. >> i hope that's not what they're waiting for. maybe she'll be desperate enough to start talking hoping she'll get a deal and then she's charged. >> police are investigated whether davis gave her daughter to mcneill to settle a drug debt. nancy grace has the late breaking developments. that's tonight at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln "news and views." >>> millions of oprah winfrey fans are probably saying it ain't so. the queen of talk just made it official announcing during a taping this morning she's ending her talk show in 2011 after nearly a quarter century on the air and in her home. kareen wynter is outside harpo studios in chicago where the queen of daytime made the announcement. i have to say, one of the silliest things i ever done when i was in chicago i passed by the studio at 2:00 in the morning. i made my friends stop. i said stop. i have to get out just to take a picture in front of her studio at 2:00 in the morning. >> reporter: not silly at all. this is my first time here. it's just really something s

police say shaniya and her abductor, mario mcneill, seen arriving at the hotel. cops say they believe the child was alive when she left the hotel at 7:30 in the morning. but we have not seen that video. and we also have many unanswered questions. you know, who was shaniya with on her way out? why did mcneill allegedly take her to a hotel in the first place? is somebody else involved? could that be why cops are waiting to announce murder charges? there have been no murder charges so far. tom ruskin, you're the investigator. why do you think that's the case? >> well, what they're doing is looking to put all the -- dotting the is and crossing the ts. that's why they haven't released the other video. they feel this video may be helpful for people coming forward and giving them information. i believe that the other video will tell us a lot more once that's released. it will probably be released after they make an arrest. >> i guess what i'm not figuring out is, why -- the allegation, michelle sigona, human trafficking, selling this precious 5-year-old for the purposes

reports emerge mommy owed mcneill money and speaking of mcneill, why was he walking free, able to takerst place? he has a rap sheet a mile long, including shooting several people, one in the head and neck, dope, of course, and running over a cop. why wasn't he in maximum security instead of checking into a hotel with a 5-year-old girl? and tonight, we confirm another twist. after repeat inspections of mommy's house by dfcs, no one bothered to tell shaniya's dad. he had no idea. why did mommy pull the 5-year-old out of school in october? as soon as daddy leaves town? red flags everywhere. tonight, as police hint more charges to come, there really are no words to describe this mother. she doesn't even deserve the compliment of mother. her and her cohorts' animalistic behavior screams out for the north carolina death penalty. at this hour, as that tiny body still sits in a cold morgue, we want justice for shaniya. >> we remember driving through here earlier and smelling something pretty nasty so we came back to check it and sure enough there were dear carcasses and trash and some of the o

we've got mcneill taking her into a hotel room. all right. we know for a fact he's in the hotel room. i think we're going to show you that video, liz. we know he's in the hotel room for about one hour with the girl. there we go. he leaves with the girl. she's still alive apparently as they leave. now, it doesn't make sense to me that he sells her into prostitution to say somebody out of town and then she turns up dead in a local ravine. that doesn't make sense. if he's really sold her to somebody, why don't they take her away, take her to mexico, take her to new york? let her blend in with the crowd. that says to me this murder is close to home, gurnal scott. what do you think? >> there is a -- that is a very compelling case. and as you mentioned earlier, we still don't know who else may be involved in this. there was a news conference scheduled for today. the police department in fayetteville said new information pushed that news conference to tomorrow. are there other people that are going to be charged in this case? will the murder charges

that's mario mcneill there.'s scheduled to be in a north carolina courtroom in just a couple of hours, in fact. a search warrant says he picked up 5-year-old shaniya from in front of her mother's home the morning of november 10th and drove more than 30 miles to a hotel in sanford, north carolina. now, surveillance video from that tuesday shows him carrying the 5-year-old into that building there. monday, her body was found six miles from the hotel. now, authorities believe shaniya was sexually assaulted and died of asphyxiation. her mother, antoinette davis is charged with trafficking her daughter in prostitution. so far she's not been charged with murder, but last night on nancy grace, a defense attorney explained why he thinks it may be harder for authorities to file those charges against her. >> the fact of the matter is maybe she didn't have ill intent. maybe it was not that, listen,, you know -- i mean, no -- she could be accused of bad judgment, her judgment was misplaced, she certainly's ignorant in doing

mario mcneill held on $100,000 bail at this time. this case is horrendous, to possibly have this child sold into these kind of conditions, number one. number two, if this body does, in fact, turn up to be shaniya davis, the fact that she could have -- the torture she could have went through and been tossed off and left on the side of the road, it makes my stomach turn. it makes me sick. >> do you think this case will shine a light on human trafficking? >> absolutely. yes. >> what's so tragic is when you see the picture of the child going into the hotel, she's hanging on to the man's shoulder and trusting so she's not even concerned because it appears that she -- it would appear that she knows this individual and trusts him. take a look at the photo right there. >> you said something interesting. you said only drugs would kill a mother's maternal instincts. what about him? he is a druggy too or just a predator? >> he is an ex-con, has a rap sheet and part of that rap sheet involves drugs. i don't want to speculate. i will say as a rec

we have arrested mario andrette mcneill. we have ap hended him and charged him with first degree kidnapping. he admitted he took miss davis. >> cops say a convicted felon admits he took the little girl from home. he's behind bars. >> she was spotted with this man an hour after she disappeared tuesday. shaniya was seen with him in a hotel 40 miles from home. police used surveillance video to confirm their identities. >> he checked in with little shaniya after 6:11 a.m. tuesday. police say a tip led them to the hotel. by the time police arrived they were gone. >> the kidnapping charges have been dropped against the man police arrested wednesday. police are looking for shaniya. her father just wants his little girl home safe. >> i miss you so much. i'm waiting for you. i'm not going to give up. you don't give up, either, honey. >> astonishing images of this little girl in that man's arms. perhaps a little bit of hope that she is alive. gurnal scott, reporter from wptf radio. what is this man telling cops? >> reporter: right now

id charges against mario mcneill. he was captured on surveillance camera carrying shaniya into a hole room. cops said he admitted to taking the girl but will plead not guilty to the charges. shaniya lived with her father until last month. he was hesitant to let her stay with her mother but felt she deserved an opportunity to be part of shaniya's life. >> of course, you know, i had some reserves, however, you know, she had been trying. i know she had been working for at least six months. she had been trying to get her life back on track and she said she had just recently got her own place. so i was wanting to give her a chance. she asked if she could be a mother. i felt that she was sincere in asking. i figured give her a chance. >> again, devastating news we're getting in. we're waiting for a press conference from north carolina scheduled to begin at any moment. as as that comes in to us we'll take you there live. >>> the space shuttle awaits its lawn inch an hour. john zarrella at kennedy space center in florida for

cops say that is mario mcneill, reportedly the ex-boyfriend's of shaniya's sister. he is reported on first degree charges of kidnapping, but sha my ya is nowhere to be found. a frantic search was launched and then at about 2:00 p.m. eastern today, devastating news. >> we have located a body. based on some information we obtained, we can confirm that that body is the child, and it was located off of walker road. >> police told us stand by for more information, but at 4:30 p.m., not much else. >> we're going to wait until we ex i'm that body, get it to the medical examiner's office, get a positive identification on it, and then go forward from there. >> meantime, shaniya's mother is behind bars, charged with a litany of nauseating crimes, including, get this, human trafficking. that's right. antonette davis is accused of forcing her 5-year-old daughter into sexual servitude and prostitution. so many unanswered questions, but a ton of information about the suspects and a possible motive. tonight's big issue, selling a child. hypothetically, what would possess a woman t

we've seen a video tame of mcneill taking her. he took her from the house and took her to the comfort inn. what else was going non in this hotel? we don't know. these are things they have to hash out right now basically to determine legal jurisdiction. >> let me ask you this. as horrific as this is, her mother is charged with child prostitution, human trafficking, is it possible that her child ends up dead and she could say i may be guilty of these things but i didn't know that my child would end up dead and therefore she wouldn't be charged with murder. is that possible? is it possible she wouldn't be culpable in that? >> it's possible but highly unlikely in this particular case. you've got at least two people involved right now. she was trying to blame it on the father. she's pregnant right now. she was trying to blame it on clarence saying he tried to push it to him that he was responsible for this. but i think you're going to find that probably were more people responsible because she's involved in human trafficking. she has t

and number two, mcneill's connection to anybody here?>> if you take a look at those photos, just as you mentioned, mike, she looks relaxed, like she's waiting for the elevator to come. it's not like she's fighting him or anything of that nature. these are only a few stills that were released to us. so we don't know if there's other things on the tape that investigators got. i can tell you that once investigators found this bit of tape, that they also started combing the outside cameras to see what kind of vehicles left the building, to see exactly where shaniya was placed in the car and where they could have taken off to. that's probably how they linked themselves to be able to come up with this next arrest. >> okay. steve, i think there's a question many people have, why confess if you're not going to turn over the little girl as well? what's going on here? >> well, yeah, that's kind of unusual, mike. but i'll tell you this, the key piece of evidence, or the key clue in this may come right from that girl in that video. what that caller

. >> mario mcneill has been charged in this case. a news conference is scheduled at 4:30 eastern time. >>> now that investigators have found shaniya's body, police begin the intense manhunt for the little girl's killer. who killed shaniya davis and dumped her body in the woods? nancy grace at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern time tonight. >>> wanda barzee, the woman charged in the 2002 kidnapping of elizabeth smart entered a guilty plea today in federal court in salt lake city. she's charged with kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. she'll be sentenced to 15 years in prison for credit for time she served. barzee and her estranged husband, brian david mitchell, are accused of kidnapping smart from the bedroom of her home in utah when she was 14 years old. smart was found nine months later and reunited with her family. >>> five members of a missouri family are in court today to face charges of sexually abusing children. prosecutors are filing 15 additional charges against burrell mohler sr. and his four sons. the men are accus

another suspect, mario mcneill, charged with kidnapping. that's the latest we know based on that news conference we were watching about 30 minutes ago. >>> new dames about what may have motivated the accused ft. hood shooter. media reports say major nidal hasan thought some of his patients were war criminals. one of his psychiatry colleagues says hasan thought some of his patients confessed to war crimes during their sessions. if that is true, hasan would have been obligated to ignore doctor/patient confidentiality and report them. here's what one military attorney told our sister network cnn about this. >> possible suspected or alleged violations of the law of war do have to be reported. so it looks like there's at least a plausible argument that he was under an obligation to report. >> we don't know what hasan reported but his superiors repeatedly ignored requests to have the soldiers charged. the last e-mails exchanged were just a few days before that attack. >>> a pregnant woman doesn't know who to thank for pulling her from the path of

they say mario mcneill is the suspect captured on a hotel video carrying the girl into a room the day she was reported missing. authorities still don't know where the girl is. last wednesday they arrested davis' boyfriend but dropped kidnapping charges against clarence coe. >>> bay area police are still looking for an 18-month-old child who has been missing since his mother was killed early friday. searchers scoured equatic park in berkeley looking for desean williams. his mother's body was found in that park. police are holding curtis martin in connection with the woman's death. is possible the child was with her, but they haven't seen him in a couple weeks. >> every time you want to see the baby, there was some kind of excuse. >> some kind of excuse. something was keeping the baby away or somebody had the baby or just something. >> when she told me she hadn't seen the baby in two weeks. she said he was with curtis. >> now, police say the suspect has an extensive criminal history and served six years for killing a child. >>> the economic summits are over, but president obama will sti

another man, mario mcneill is facing kidnapping charges as well. >>> let's move on to president obama who's wrapping up a busy day in china with a lavish state learn in china. he had a long conversation with the president. >> as the two largest consumers and producers of energy, there can be no solution of this challenge without the efforts of both china and the united states. and that's high we have growed to certain new initiatives in this area. we are creating a joint energy efficiency and renewable energy, cleaner uses of coal. electric vehicles an shale gas. >> china's crackdown on tibet and other issues have been a thorn in the united states -- >>> a storm with winds of 95 miles an hour and sustained winds of 55 miles an hour and higher are expected before the storm is over. these winds that have battered western washington state have eased up a little bit and floodwaters are easing up a little bit. the bad news by the way is the stormy weather may not be -- new guidance for you this morning that says women in their 40s do not need routine mammograms. that comes from a governmen

mario mcneill will be in court today. they say he was the last person to see shaniya davis alive. her mother reported her missing. they think she was actually prostituting her child. well, they found the little girl's body on monday. yesterday her aunt spoke with reporters. >> the last time i saw shaniya was four weeks ago on a friday. i went to visit her mother. i packed away two days' worth of clothes. i got her out of the car and i kissed her good-bye and told her to be a good girl. she turned back to me and said, i love you, aunt carrie, and see you later. i have to go. i'm sorry. ♪ >> last night about 100 people gathered to remember shaniya at a vigil near her mother's home. police still are not sure where she was killed. preliminary autopsy results suggest that she was suffocated. >>> a security expert says that the pentagon ignored a report that could have prevented the ft. hood shooting. shannon says she worked on the 2008 study to help the military spot people like major nidal hasan. >> the report was written from the military perspective. it was for them to have tools to

we have arrested mario andrette mcneill. we have apprehended him now.h first degree kidnapping. he admitted he did take miss davis. >> new arrest in the kidnapping of 5-year-old shaniya davis. a convicted felon admits he took the girl from her home. he's behind bars. there's no sign of little shaniya. >> she was spotted with this man an hour after she disappeared tuesday. shaniya was seen with him in a hotel 40 miles from home. police used surveillance video from the hotel to confirm their identities. >> mcneil checked into the hotel in sanford with little shaniya after 6:11 a.m. tuesday. a tip led them to the hotel. by the time police arrived mcneil and the little girl was gone. >> with mcneil's arrest, kidnapping charges have been dropped against the man police arrested wednesday. police are looking for shaniya. her father just wants his little girl home safe. >> i miss you today. i miss you so much, honey. i'm waiting for you. i'm not going to give up. you don't give up, either, honey. >> astonishing images of this little girl in that man's arms. per

another man, mario mcneill is facing kidnapping charges. such a disturbing story. >>> you may be one of 15 million people who could have to give back hundreds of dollars in stimulus money to the government. say what? our money expert jennifer westhoven is all over this one. somebody messed up, didn't they? >>> well, i don't know if it's somebody, the way that they did this, but the idea is you were supposed to get a little bit of money from the stimulus package and some people got a little bit more than they were supposed to get, and now you might have to pay it back. for some people it could mean paying it back, like owing a little money. for some people it may mean a smaller refund. it's likely to affect you if there's more than one job in your household per tax return. so if you're single, it's if you have more than one job, single with two jobs, or married with both spouses work. if there's a teenager in the family who has a job but they're not the lead on a tax return, so to speak, or if you're on social security and have a paying job.

another suspect, mario mcneill, has been charged with kidnapping. >>> well, hln's nancy grace talked with shaniya's family last night. 59 ye the 5-year-old's father was too distraught but did come to offer support to shaniya's brother. >> have they told anybody what was the cause of death, byron? >> actually, i haven't heard anything. i don't think my father has either. we're not really sure yet. we're still trying to figure it out now. >> and there is your dad right there. >> yes, ma'am. >> we're going to have more on their emotional interview at the bottom of the hour. i can't imagine what that family is going through. >>> this just in, somali pirates attacked "the maersk alabama" for the second time. guards on the maersk fired back. do you remember it was hijacked in april? pirates took captain richard fill limbs hostage for five days. navy sharpshooters killed three pirates and freed him. they're going after the same boat. >>> just a few minutes ago president obama landed in seoul, south korea, the last stop in his weeklong asian tour. he left beijing this morning and arrived at

police say they collected hair, fibers, clothes and a straw from mcneill's car. last night on "nancy grace" there were new disclosures about the suspect's alleged criminal history. >> what's his criminal history exactly? let's pin it down. >> well, you're right, nancy, it's a mile long. it started in june of 2001. he was arrested for shooting someone in the face, neck, shoulders and arms. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. shooting someone in the face. >> yes. >> the neck, the shoulders, the arm. if i'm correct, matt, two other people, that makes three people were injured in that shooting incident. >> yes, you're right, nancy. now, what happened was is that he was out waiting on trial. about a year later he was arrested again, this time for drug possession. >> stop, pause, pause, pause. did you just say that he was out waiting for trial? in other words, a judge let him bond out on a shooting, a multiple shooting, correct? >> yes, yes. >> okay, all right. go ahead, please. put that rap sheet back up, liz. >> so what happens is is that they consolidate the two cases. he pl

another man, mario mcneill is facing kidnapping charges. nancy grace is following and has the latest at 8 and 10:00 eastern. >>> you may be one of 15 million people who could have to give back hundreds of dollars in stimulus money to the government. jennifer westhoven is here. it's a big mess-up. are we seeing this in our paychecks? >> some are. millions got more they were supposed to. they got the tax credit and then some because too late was taken out of their paychecks throughout the year. basically you got a pump in your paycheck and it was a little too high of a bump for the people involved here. treasury says the calculations just weren't right, mostly for -- if you've got a family, for example, but there's more than one job in the family, so it could be a single person with two jobs, a married couple where both spouses work. if you got a teenager who got a job or social security with a job. basically they got more than they were entitled to. we were all supposed to get about $400 if you're single, $800 if you're married. now, we're l

they say mario mcneill is the suspect captured on a hotel surveillance video carrying the little girlnto a room on the day she was reported missing. authorities still don't know where she is. last thursday they arrested davis' boyfriend, but have since dropped kidnapping charges against clarence coe. >>> president obama is asking lawmakers to hold off on any investigations into the ft. hood shooting. he says they should wait until law enforcement and the military finish their investigations first. he also asked lawmakers not to turn this event into what he called political theater. >> if there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability. beyond that, and most importantly, we must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system so we can prevent a similar breach from happening again. our government must be able to act swiftly and surely when it has threatening information. and our troops must have the security that they deserve. >>> lawmakers say they want to look into e-mails between shooting suspect major nidal malik

another suspect, mario mcneill harks been charged with kidnapping. >>> "hln's" nancy grace talked with shaniya's brother. the 5-year-old father was too distraught to talk but did offer support to his son during this talk. >> have they told anybody what was the cause of death, byron? >> they actually -- i haven't heard anything. i don't think my father has either. we're not really sure too much yet. we're still trying to figure it out now. so -- >> and there's your dad right there. there's your dad. >> we're going to have more of their emotional interview at the bottom of the hour. >>> just in, is a ma somali pir attack the "maersk alabama "a "for the second time. guards on the "maersk" fired on them and they turn away. remember when they took the captain captive for five days. it's pure chance that the "maersk alabama" was tartsed again. >>> this theirs morning, two men in ski masks burst into a florida store at closing time and held several employees hostage for hours. police heard one shot but all of the hostages got out safely. local media reports that a 16-year-old girl was hurt wh

. >> how about mario mcneill? >> same thing. you could work the little continuum down the line and say what was the first felony. as a murder resulted, go back and charge him with murder under a felony murder rule. >> don, let's talk about this investigation, getting evidence on these people. where do you start? are you going crime scene, hotel, back at the house? what's your order here? >> well, i think you start right where the crime started from, and the crime started when she left the house. you've got to start there. and then you've got to proceed on with all of the other places that she went to. but the main thing is, too, mike, when you're running this investigation, i agree with anita totally, is that you're going to have to find some way to hold this woman so they can really put it together. number one, work on the drug aspect of it. and secondly, possibly you could be working on the selling of the kid. and then get murder charges. but get that first charge, because this is very serious and nobody needs to make a mistak