Another View of Bradley Lockhart, Shaniya’s Father: He Was a Negligent Father (w/Update)

UPDATE: This is not the first burial from violent death in Bradley Lockhart’s immediate family. Eleven years ago, his then-wife of seven years, Vickie Sue Lockhart, 28, was bound, gagged and shot, along with her sister and a friend in a home robbery homicide. The friend, 24-year-old David Lee Epps, had a brother, Joe Epps Staton, who had come into a $20,000 settlement a year ago, and the killers believed that Staton had the money stashed in the house. Staton was providentially absent from the house when the incident occurred; his mother Sheila believes that he had bragged about the money in public, but of course, it was in the bank, not in the house. The perps were sentenced to life in prison. Lockhart had three children with Vickie Sue, but they are being raised by their maternal grandparents.

Do you know what this means? Bradley Lockhart hasn’t had a real hand in raising his children since the death of his wife. Cheyenne Lockhart, 17, was raised by his black neighbors. Lockhart has been married at least twice.

Some guys indeed are just sperm donors.

Why does lightning have to strike twice?

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Well, looks as though I am going to have to take back my generous words about Bradley Lockhart. He may have loved his daughter, but it appears that he didn’t know how or wanted to raise her either. Check this new video and an article that’s come out from My NC, Wake County.

Several people who were close to 5-year-old Shaniya Davis and her father Brad Lockhart say they tried to intervene in the child’s life because they felt the little girl was at risk.

A close friend of Brad’s, and his ex-father-in-law both say they offered to take in Shaniya rather than let her live with her mother, because they say when the child was in the custody of her mother, bad things happened to her.

“My wife says she saw cigarette burns on Shaniya’s arms,” said Brad’s friend Tim Allen, who says he is very angry over what happened.

Byron Coleman, Brad’s ex-father-in-law, said Shaniya “had burns on her legs, arms and things” after visits with her mother.

“She had a cigarette burn on the corner of her eye, which she claimed her grandma did when she went over there,” added Shaniya’s half sister Cheyenne Lockhart.

The three all claimed that the 5-year-old suffered physical abuse while in the custody of her mother.

“When you wanted sex that’s where you went,” Coleman said. “You knew what the girl was doing. You knew what she associated with, so why place your daughter in that situation?”

Because of that, Coleman blames Lockhart for Shaniya’s death.

“To me Shaniya would be alive today if she wasn’t placed in that situation,” Coleman claims.

Coleman says he offered to give Shaniya a home, but says Brad declined his offer.

Allen tells a similar story.

“He had an alternative, I gave him a way out,” Allen explained; however Lockhart would not let Allen take care of Shaniya.

“I’m fighting mad. All this could have been avoided,” Allen said.

Why was Bradley Lockhart so insistent that Shaniya be returned to her mother’s home and raised by her when there was evidence that she was abusive and neglectful? Because it looks as though he was dumping Shaniya off no matter what the circumstances were at her mother’s.

Allen had already taken in Shaniya’s half sister Cheyenne, because she said her dad wouldn’t take care of her.

And Cheyenne says Brad did not provide for Shaniya.

“He didn’t take care of her, his girlfriends took care of her,” she said. “He loved her, but she was raised by other people. He hasn’t been in her life.”

Meanwhile, the Cumberland County Department of Social Services said it can not comment on what it was doing in regard to Shaniya because those comments might compromise the on-going criminal investigation.

All those histrionics after Shaniya was found…what an act if this is all true.

Shaniya was alone. All alone.

Her funeral is set for tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Manna Church, 5117 Cliffdale Road, Fayetteville.

~ by blksista on November 21, 2009.