Navaeh's father remembered the little girl as someone who "was happy."
A South Carolina father said he wished he could have seen his daughter one more time after authorities found the 5-year-old's body this week, two months after her mother was stabbed to death.
Suspect Daunte Johnson, 28, had previously been charged with the murder of 5-year-old Navaeh Adams and her mother, Sharee Bradley, after the mom was found rolled into a rug and stabbed to death in her apartment on Aug. 5.
Authorities, however, hadn’t found the young girl’s body until Friday. Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark said Navaeh’s remains were found in a Richland County landfill.
Navaeh’s father, Dupray Adams, was emotional at a press conference after the police department’s announcement.
“When she was with me, she didn’t have a dull day,” Adams said. "Every video that I have, every picture that I have she was happy.”
Hundreds of people participated in the search for Navaeh across more than 40 agencies over more than two months.
Johnson, who had reportedly known Bradley for years, was seen running from Bradley’s house after her murder, according to police. He was arrested a few days later.
“He has a history of violence against women, domestic violence,” Roark said at a press conference.
Police said Johnson confessed to the two murders while he was interrogated by police and allegedly told authorities he put Navaeh’s body in a dumpster. Police searched the dumpster at the time, but it had been emptied by the time they got to it. He was charged with two counts of murder, according to Fox News.
Tim Murphy, Johnson's attorney, said in court in September that he "remains innocent," WLTX reported.
“This is not the outcome any of us would have wanted but we hope this can provide some closure to the family,” Roark also said. “The local community and the state as a whole have been profoundly impacted by this case. It is our hope that the recovery of Nevaeh will provide a sense of peace to her family, the community, and the hundreds of men and women who participated in this effort.”
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