Missing poster
DETROIT, MI -- A Detroit mother, six years after her daughter vanished and is believed to have been killed by her father, insists the child is alive.
Banika Jones maintains her belief that 2-year-old daughter Bianca was kidnapped and possibly sold; she rejects the ruling of the jury that unanimously convicted D'Andre Lane, the father of 2-year-old Bianca, of felony murder in 2012, based on a recent interview with WDIV-TV, Channel 4 News.
Channel 4 reporters say they've spoken with three other witnesses who support Jones' claim and say they saw the child after she was reported missing.
Wayne County assistant prosecutors said, even though Bianca's body wasn't recovered, there was adequate evidence Lane committed the crime.
Police and prosecutors believe Lane fatally beat his child with a stick wrapped with electrical tape -- a punishment after she wet the bed -- and tried to cover up her death by claiming he was carjacked and Bianca abducted.
The prosecution claimed Lane took the dead child from his home and disposed of her remains in an incinerator
Investigators say they found Bianca's blood on her pillow, cadaver dogs trained to detect decomposition alerted to Lane's car and that Lane can't account for a 45-minutes leading up to the alleged carjacking.
D'Andre Lane, MDOC photo
Lane told police the blood on his daughter's pillow was from an injury she suffered when she fell and bumped her head.
"He beat her to death with this cudgel," Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Qiana Lillard said at Lane's trial in October 2012. "He wants to call it a paddle. I think it's a cudgel. A cudgel is a stick made for no purpose other than a weapon, and anyone who has to make a weapon to spank their children to potty train them is a child abuser.
"That's what D'Andre Lane is and this time his child abuse went to far and the baby's dead and you should hold him responsible."
Lane remained adamant he wasn't guilty when he spoke at his own sentencing. He received a mandatory life sentence.
"They will not be able to bring in one person who will be able to testify to seeing my daughter hurt or seeing my daughter deceased," Banika Jones said at the time. "I believe my daughters was kidnapped and somebody is holding her at this time.
"I believe they are keeping her, or they sold her."
According to online Wayne County Probate Court records, Banika lost guardianship over another of her children in 2014, although the reason isn't immediately clear.
It appears Patricia McLemore petitioned for and was granted custody of one of Banika Jones' daughters. There is no itndication Banika Jones fought the court's ruling.
Lane is currently incarcerated in the Thumb Correctional Facility.