NC girl’s funeral turns into call for action

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — An overflow crowd of more than 2,000 people attended services for a 5-year-old North Carolina girl found dead nearly a week after she was reported missing.

Multiple media outlets reported that Shaniya Davis’s father on Sunday urged the crowd to help the community’s needy. Bradley Lockhart says God has spoken to the gathering through a tragedy.

More than 1,500 people crowded into Manna Church and another 500 people watched the service from an adjacent building. Several hundred more waited outside.

White doves were released during a graveside service.

The girl’s mother is charged with trafficking her daughter and child abuse involving prostitution. A Fayetteville man is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)