Dad: Shaniya's Mom Trafficked Her to Settle Drug Debt

Nov. 20, 2009— -- The father of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis told Oprah Winfrey today that the girl's mother trafficked the child to pay off a drug debt.

The allegation by Bradley Lockhart came a day after Mario Andrette O'Neill was charged with the rape and murder of Shaniya. O'Neill is the man police say is shown on a Sanford, N.C., hotel surveillance camera carrying Shaniya into a hotel room shortly after she was reported missing. He is being held without bond.

The girl's mother, Antoinette Davis, has been arrested and charged with child prostitution. Raleigh's ABC affiliate WTVD confirmed this week that Davis is again pregnant.

Davis' other child, a 7-year-old boy, was removed from her home last week, Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance told ABCNews.com, and is now in foster care.

Lockhart, appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today via satellite and said he was told that Antoinette Davis had trafficked their daughter to pay off a drug debt.

Lockhart told Winfrey that the child was the result of a one-night stand and that Davis had raised Shaniya for the first year of her life before asking him to provide a more stable environment.

Custody, he said, "was a verbal agreement between Antoinette and I."

Shaniya's aunt, Carey Lockhart-Davis told Winfrey, "I am disgusted, but yet in so much pain at this point. She was such a vibrant child and such an important part of my life. And it's hard at this point to understand why someone would take this sweet blessing away from me."

Preliminary autopsy reports indicate Shaniya died from asphyxiation, according to the Fayetteville Police Department, though authorities are still waiting on a series of tests results before making a final conclusion.