Ronnie Allen
April 1, 2013
Criminal Justice to Courtroom Process
Ms. Angela Bradrick
University of Phoenix

This paper is about the high profile case of a five year old child Shaniya Davis, murdered and raped.
With the high rise in crime all over the country there are cases that are high profile. Such is the case of five year old girl named Shaniya Davis in Fayetteville, North Carolina, cause of death asphyxiation and rape. In this paper a description of the crime will be noted from the reports of different media, the role of attrition, the criminal justice processes used in the case, How the participants in the criminal justice process influenced the case in terms of discretion, when was discretion used by a party or parties, and at other points, if any, might this case have been pursued. Also, would the defendants in the case benefit more from a bench trial or from a jury trial and to explain the advantages and disadvantages as they apply to the high profile case? My heart as well as the hearts of the world hurt as the story revealed itself about Shaniya Nicole Davis. The story begins with a five year old child being raised by her father, Bradley Lockhart, and his sister, Carey. In September of 2009, Shaniya’s mother, Antoinette Davis, contacted Shaniya’s father, to start having more contact with her daughter. Shaniya’s mother had struggled in the past, but it appeared that she had gotten her life back together. She had a job and a place to live (Crumpet, 2012). A neighbor of Antoinette Davis stated that at 3:00am in the morning in November of 2009, she heard banging outsider her home. A 6:11 the same day a surveillance camera at “Comfort Suites’ hotel caught a man carrying Shaniya through the hallway. The man checked into the hotel with Shaniya, and he stayed for an hour as reported by one media. At 6:53am, Antoinette reported Shaniya missing from her home. A blanket belonging to Shaniya was found in a trash can outside a neighbor’s home. The role of attrition in this case was the police, FBI and other organizations and the community all compiling evidence that could be used in the investigation to convict someone for kidnapping and any other crimes that might be charged against someone. Allegations that Shaniya was used to pay off unresolved drug debt. It was stated authorities was looking into those suspicions. The first charge in the case was Clarence D. Coe for first degree kidnapping. He swore that he wasn’t guilty. The police identified another man, Mario Andretti McNeill, on a video at the hotel carrying Shaniya in the hallway (Butler, 2009). Mario admits to the kidnapping and the charges against Clarence were dropped. Then her mother was charged with human trafficking. There was a delay in additional charges because of jurisdiction issues between Cumberland County and Lee County. Finally, it was decided the case would be prosecuted in Cumberland County. Soon after first charges Shaniya’s body was found raped and murdered by Mario McNeill. A Jeff Riccio of Tar Heel Canine Training Inc. after getting information that the body may be near some deer carcasses they had overlooked. They found her body on Monday, November 16, 2009, in a forested area off of Highway 87 in Sanford, North Carolina. Further charges were made on Antoinette Davis filing a false police report, human trafficking and felony child abuse, accused of selling her daughter into sexual slavery. Mario A. McNeill was charged with rape and first degree murder in addition to first degree kidnapping charges. Mother arrested November 14, 2009, and Mario McNeill November 13, 2009. The Criminal Justice process used in this case is called the Wedding Cake model. The smallest layer at the very top of cake represents famous cases that attract a lot of publicity and unfortunately, often contribute to public misinformation about the criminal justice process. This model points out two important phases