Mourners pay tribute to slain 5-year-old. Thousands gather to remember 5-year-old North Carolina girl Shaniya Davis, who police say was abducted, raped and murdered earlier this month. NBC’s Ron Mott reports.
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Shaniya's dad: ‘She touched a lot of people’. In an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Meredith Vieira, Brad Lockhart, the father of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, who was abducted and murdered earlier this month, remembers his daughter and talks about the allegations against her mother.
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Shaquille O’Neal pays for slain girl’s (Shaniya Davis') funeral
Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal has paid for the funeral of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl whose kidnapping and slaying received national news coverage.
The Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina reported Thursday that the Cleveland Cavaliers player was touched by the case of Shaniya Davis.
More than 2,000 people attended her funeral Sunday. The girl's body was found Nov. 16 beside a rural road.
Her mother, Antionette Davis, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Mario McNeill is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping.
The funeral home declined to say what the service cost.
A Cavaliers official did not return calls from The Associated Press early Thursday. The funeral home declined comment.
NBA great Shaquille O'Neal pays for Shaniya's funeral
The story of what happened to Shaniya Davis has affected thousands of people, including NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, who paid for the slain 5-year-old child's funeral.
"He was very touched by the story, and requested how to get in touch with the family," said a Cleveland Cavaliers spokesperson, who confirmed Wednesday that O'Neal paid for the service.
More than 2,000 people attended Shaniya's funeral at Manna Church on Sunday. She was buried at Fayetteville Memorial Cemetery.
Corey Breece, of Rogers and Breece Funeral Home, would not reveal Wednesday the cost of the child's service. However, he said the cost of a child's funeral "averages around $4,500."
Bradley Lockhart, 39, the child's father, could not be reached for comment. A family friend, Vaughn Eason, said the family was out of town for the holidays.
Shaniya's body was found Nov. 16 in a wooded area off N.C. 87 south of Sanford, six days after she was reported missing by her mother.
Mario McNeill, 29, is charged with first degree kidnapping, murder and rape in the case. McNeill turned himself into police on Nov.13 after he was seen on surveillance video at a Sanford hotel holding Shaniya in his arms.
Antoinette Davis, 25, the child's mother, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution against her daughter.
Davis and McNeill are incarcerated in state prison facilities in Raleigh until their next scheduled court dates.
Davis will appear back in Cumberland County on Dec. 3. McNeill's court date is scheduled for Dec. 9.
"I was sitting at home watching it on the news and the story brought a tear to my eye," Shaq, as he is commonly known, told The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper on Wednesday night.
He first asked to get in touch with the Lockhart family on Nov. 18, the day after the State Medical Examiner's office confirmed that a child's body found in Lee County on Nov. 16 was in fact Shaniya's.
Bradley Lockhart and his family had setup a trust fund in memory of Shaniya to help raise money to pay for the funeral.
Eason said last week that any leftover funds earmarked for Shaniya's funeral would go to local charities, groups and agencies that help neglected or abused children.
"Being a law enforcement guy that investigates crimes against children, I wanted to be able to help in some way," Shaq told the Cleveland newspaper.
Shaq completed reserve officer's training when he lived in Los Angeles and Miami, the Cavaliers spokesperson said Wednesday. His last certification was in 2005.
Performing random acts of kindness is nothing new for Shaq.
Last year, according to the Cleveland newspaper, he paid for the funeral of NBA Hall of Famer George Mikan.
In 2007, Shaq had his own reality television show, "Shaq's Big Challenge," in which he helped children of middle school age lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.
He was traded to the Cavaliers this past summer to be their new center. He stands at just more than 7feet tall.
Shaq, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, sat out his sixth consecutive game Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons.
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Sources: MSNBC, Fay Observer, Google Maps
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