Suspect in death of 4-year-old Texas girl Maleah Davis is indicted

A grand jury in Texas has indicted a man who was already facing a charge in connection with the death of Maleah Davis, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

Derion Vence, the girl’s mother’s former fianc, was indicted on a charge of tampering with the four-year-old’s body, District Attorney Kim Ogg said.

Vence, 27, was arrested May 11 on suspicion of tampering with evidence – the same charge he was indicted on.

Maleah was in the care of Vence when she was last seen on surveillance video following him into the home they all shared on April 30. Her remains were found on May 31 alongside a road in Fulton, Arkansas, police said.

The district attorney’s office said prosecutors will consider any additional charges until they receive Maleah’s final autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office.

“Our work continues to seek justice for Maleah,” Ogg said.

Vence initially told officers that he was attacked by a group of men who knocked him unconscious then abducted Maleah, but police have said they do not believe his story.

The search for Maleah moved to Arkansas after the suspect allegedly confessed to community activist Quanell X, who visited him in jail last week. He allegedly told him that he dumped the little girl’s body near Hope, about 30 miles northeast of the Texas-Arkansas border.

A roadside mowing crew spotted a garbage bag with a foul odor near Hope, authorities said. It contained the remains of the child.