Father of Shaniya Davis 'Takes Blame' in Daughter's Death

By Alicia Cruz
nj.newsroom.cruz@gmail.com  

Associated Content
The father of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, Bradley Lockhart, said Tuesday he partly blames himself for his daughter's death.

"I believe every parent would blame themselves," Lockhart said, his lower lip trembling.

"We all look within ourselves to see what we could have done different." Lockhart said he didn't know what he could have done differently, but he wishes he had known the extent of a reported Department of Social Services investigation into the home life of Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Davis.

 "I feel if they would have known, they should have contacted me," he said. Shaniya had been staying with Davis when she went missing from the the Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park off Murchison Road on Nov. 10. 

Shaniya Davis' mother, Antoinette Davis, and a Fayetteville man are charged in her disappearance and Davis faces charges that include prostitution.

Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, is charged with first-degree kidnapping. Police say he was seen carrying Shaniya to an elevator in a Sanford hotel after she went missing.

Shaniya's body was found a week later in woods off a rural road south of Sanford. Lockhart said Tuesday he was "appalled and disgusted" at the nature of the charges, but he dismissed reports he knew Davis' home was an unsafe, unfit environment for his daughter.

 "I choose not to talk about that," Lockhart said. "Most of it's speculation, though." Shaniya lived with her father, a contractor who was out of the state when Shaniya went missing, for the past four years in northern Cumberland County.

Lockhart characterized his recent relationship with Davis as typical of one between parents in a split family. Lockhart said Shaniya had been staying with Davis since Oct. 9 while he was working out of state.

His sister, Carey Lockhart-Davis, said Shaniya had split her time between her and Davis since then and that she noticed no obvious signs of abuse. Those caring for Lockhart's older children say Lockhart knew Davis' home was not safe for Shaniya and that he should not have allowed her to stay there.

Tim Allen has been caring for Lockhart's 17-year-old daughter, Cheyenne, since July. Cheyenne lives with Allen and his daughters, with whom she attends Pine Forest High School.

Allen said Lockhart agreed Oct. 1 to let Shaniya stay with his family at night while Lockhart was gone and for her to spend the days at a day care run by Allen's mother.

A day later, Allen said, Lockhart told him he had changed his mind. "He said he (Lockhart) knew she wasn't supposed to be over there, but he wanted to give her biological mother a chance," Allen said.

On Oct. 3, Lockhart left town, Allen said, returning the day Shaniya went missing. Cheyenne said she didn't have much contact with Shaniya's mother, but Cheyenne never thought she was capable of her alleged involvement in the girl's disappearance.

"He (Lockhart) knew Antoinette wasn't capable of taking care of Shaniya," Cheyenne said.

Lockhart has said that Davis had been holding a steady job and that he wanted her to have a relationship with her daughter.

He said twice during Tuesday's news conference that he didn't know the entire situation involving Davis and the Department of Social Services.

 Cheyenne is one of three children Lockhart had with his wife of seven years, Vickie Sue Lockhart.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE MURDER OF VICKIE SUE LOCKHART IN 1998


In 1998, Vickie Sue Lockhart was murdered along with her 19-year-old sister at a home on Graham Road.

The two women were bound, gagged and shot with a shotgun in what police said was a robbery. Since the murders, Cheyenne and her brothers stayed mostly with their grandparents, Byron and Phyllis Coleman, in the Remington subdivision behind Seventy-First High School.

 "We've had a lot of tragedy in our family," said Byron Coleman, Vickie Sue Lockhart's father. Coleman said he was angry about Shaniya's death. "He knew the situation with this girl," Coleman said. "He knew the kind of environment. "Why take Shaniya back to a woman like that?

That's the stupidest thing I ever heard." The Colemans and Brad Lockhart have been on opposing sides in several lawsuits in recent years, most of which were dismissed.

A case filed in 1998 resulted in the Colemans being granted custody of their grandchildren and child support in 2007, according to court files.

Neither side would comment on why Lockhart lost custody of his children from his marriage to the maternal grandparents. Before Shaniya's death, Lockhart was paying child support on three children, including Shaniya and two of the children from his marriage.

"I would have kept Shaniya, but he never asked me," Phyllis Coleman said. "After all, I kept his (other) three children.''

 On Tuesday afternoon, Lockhart publicly thanked everyone involved - law enforcement agencies and volunteers - in searching for his daughter.

 "They did the best job they can do," he said. "I thank you so much for not forgetting about Shaniya and bringing her home.

It's not the result I wanted. It's not the result any father or family would want for their children, but God has a greater calling for all of us." As he stood outside his home, the front porch covered in stuffed animals and silk flowers, Lockhart's hand shook as he read from a page of notes.

He begged anyone with knowledge of other endangered children to notify authorities. "Report it, and if you're unable to report it ... take it to somebody that can," he said. Neighbor Scott Rollston said a memorial page has been set up on Facebook and a foundation has been established in Shaniya's name.

Donations can be made at the Wachovia Bank on Morganton Road. Shaniya's funeral arrangements will be made through McLaughlin Chapel, the Lockhart family church, Rollston said. Lockhart said Shaniya was "full of joy."

 "Every day was special with Shaniya," he said. "Once she was your friend, she was your friend for life."