Derion Vence's bond reduced from $999,999 to $45,000

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The bond for Derion Vence has been reduced from nearly $1 million to $45,000.

Vence, the ex-fiance of the mother of missing 4-year-old Maleah Davis, is charged with tampering with evidence, specifically a human corpse.

Vence was being held on a $999,999 bond after the district attorney's office requested a "high bond" due to the "egregiousness of the facts" and because Vence could possibly face additional charges, including murder.

A different judge reduced the bond Monday morning to $45,000.

Vence was due in court Monday morning for the charge related to her disappearance, but the hearing was rescheduled.

Maleah has been missing for more than a week now. Investigators do not believe she is alive. No one has been charged with murder, and police have not found Maleah’s body.

Vence did not appear in court Monday as scheduled for the tampering with evidence charge. But Maleah's mother was at the courthouse, and so were people who feel she should be charged, too. They chanted "Justice for Maleah" as she waited for the elevator.

The cousin of Maleah's biological father was also at the courthouse.Tamisha Mendoza said her cousin wanted to be at the hearing, but he was just too torn up.

"He's a father. He loved his daughter. His daughter has been ripped away from him. He's devastated," Mendoza said.

Prosecutors said in court documents filed Saturday that in the course of this investigation Vence could face additional charges, including murder. That's part of the reason that he was being held on a nearly $1 million bond.

Yesterday, about 100 people who have never met Maleah held a vigil for the missing four-year-old girl. They left notes and toys at the front door of the apartment where she lived in southwest Houston with her mother and Vence.

According to documents, inside that apartment is where investigators found blood in the hallway leading to the bathroom, which they say does match Maleah’s DNA profile.

Police say Vence was seen on a neighbor's surveillance camera carrying a full laundry basket from the apartment, stuffed with a full garbage bag as well as multiple bottles of bleach.

On Thursday, Vence's silver Nissan Altima was found in a commercial parking lot in Missouri City. Police say the laundry basket from the surveillance image was found in the trunk of the car along with a gas can.

A short time after carrying the laundry basket out, Vence was seen on Friday, May 3, in the afternoon carrying bleach out of the apartment. Maleah’s biological dad told detectives he stopped by that Friday around 7 p.m., asking to see his daughter, “and the defendant would not allow him to see her.”

Another reason the state requested a high bond be set for Vence is because they claimed he would be a danger to children if he were allowed to leave jail.

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