Brittany Bowens, the mother of missing Houston girl, Maleah Davis, says she’s unsure if abuse was going on in her home while she lived with the main suspect in the little girl’s disappearance.
“I’m not sure. I was always home. Always home. I didn’t start working until January, because I was in school and I only went to school a couple days out of the week,” Bowens told FOX 26 News reporter Damali Keith when questioned whether anything suspicious happened inside her home.
Bowens was referring to her boyfriend, 26-year-old Derion Vence, and whether she noticed if the man was hurting her children, which include 4-year-old Maleah and her siblings. Maleah was last seen alive on security footage at the pair’s Houston apartment complex on April 30. Vence reported the girl missing on May 4, claiming that three Hispanic men beat him up and took Maleah, but it’s a story police found holes in from the beginning.
Bowens’ remarks are in stark contrast to what she reportedly told her spokesperson, community activist Quanell X, last week.
According to Quanell, Bowens previously said she was upset at the way Vence physically punished and “whipped” Maleah while she was sick. The alleged abuse was so bad at one point that Bowens wanted to take the little girl to the hospital. Quanell, speaking on behalf of Bowens, claimed the woman changed her mind when Vence allegedly threatened her.
Quanell, who was with Bowens during the FOX 26 interview, stopped her from talking about previous issues with Child Protective Services. The agency took Maleah and her siblings away from Bowens and their biological father last year, after the then-3-year-old developed a head injury so severe that she had to have several surgeries.
“No. See, now you’re getting into CPS stuff. No,” Quanell interjected.
Bowens, who was at her father’s funeral in Massachusetts when Maleah vanished, claimed she had nothing to do with her daughter’s disappearance and initially didn’t want to believe Vence did either.
“I know it didn’t make sense, but as a mother, I would rather hear that than to hear that somebody I loved killed my daughter. I would rather hear that.”
Vence is currently behind bars on tampering with evidence charges after police found blood evidence linked back to Maleah inside his apartment. Cadaver dogs also picked up on possible human decomposition in the trunk of the Nissan Altima Vence was driving when he said Maleah was abducted.
Meanwhile, Maleah still has not been found. Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to her location. Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Houston Police Department at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Click here to see all of CrimeOnline’s coverage on Maleah Davis.
[Feature Photo: Maleah Davis/Handout]
