Maleah Davis custody hearing handled behind closed doors

Toran James, 26, brought balloons to the Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land to join the community in remembrance of Maleah Davis on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, in Sugar Land. Toran James, 26, brought balloons to the Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land to join the community in remembrance of Maleah Davis on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, in Sugar Land. Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Maleah Davis custody hearing handled behind closed doors 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Family members met with an attorney behind closed doors Wednesday in a downtown Houston courtroom, where a hearing related to the custody of Maleah Davis and her older brother was scheduled to take place.

That hearing did not happen -- at least not within public view at the scheduled time Wednesday morning in state District Judge Gloria Lopez's courtroom. The judge has imposed a gag order, so attorneys and family members declined to comment.

Nearly three weeks have elapsed since 4-year-old Maleah Davis disappeared. Her mother's boyfriend, Derion Vence, told police she was abducted. Police later arrested him on suspicion of tampering with a human corpse. He remained in jail Wednesday.

Maleah's maternal grandmother, Brenda Bowens, filed an emergency request asking that the state Department of Family and Protective Services move Maleah -- if she was found -- and her brother into Bowens' care. Maleah's older brother was placed with another relative after her disappearance, according to the request.

The court date was originally set when the Department of Family and Protective Services sought to be dismissed from the case, returning the children to their family's care. Both had been removed from their parents' custody in August 2018, after Maleah suffered what was described as a traumatic and unexplained brain injury.

The children returned home in February, with ongoing DFPS involvement, according to the court records.