As some volunteers continued searching for Maleah, other community members gathered outside the courtroom where Vence was scheduled to appear. Brittany Bowens, Maleah's mother, was inside the courtroom waiting for Vence to appear until the judge announced the hearing was reset.
Protesters chanted at Bowens, accusing her of being involved in the disappearance of her girl.
After the hearing was canceled, Bowens' representative Quannel X told reporters that she was trying to focus on finding her daughter.
“The main thing right now that all of us want to know is what did he do with Maleah,” he said. “Where is Maleah?”
As Quanell X spoke to reporters, he was drowned out by a group of people, including some family members of Maleah’s father who yelled “she let it happen” and “Brittany knew all along.”
Quanell X previously alleged that Vence might have abused Maleah and that Bowens should have told police about it.
Child Protective Services removed Maleah and her brothers from the apartment Vence and Bowens shared in August after the girl suffered a head wound, but the children were returned in February, according to an agency spokeswoman. When asked by reporters why—if she had concerns about Vence—Bowens had left her daughter in Vence’s care while Bowens attended her father’s funeral out of state, Quanell X declined to comment, saying, “I’m not going to speak to that.”
Tamisha Mendoza, a cousin of Maleah’s father, Craig Davis, said she questioned why Bowens stayed with Vence if she suspected he was hurting her daughter. “You’re just as guilty as (Vence). She needs to be locked up along with him,” Mendoza said.
The group kept yelling as Bowens exited the building.
Vence claimed that he was in Houston on May 4 with Maleah and his 1-year-old son when he was forced to pull over. When he got out of his car, he claimed, three Hispanic men driving a blue pickup truck approached him. When he came to, he was in Sugar Land and Maleah was gone.
Police said Vence changed his story multiple times and eventually arrested him on Saturday.