Shaquille O’Neal pays for slain girl’s funeral

Shaniya Davis, 5, was found beside rural road in N.C.; victim’s mom charged

Tony Dejak / AP	Cleveland Cavaliers' star Shaquille O'Neal was touched by news reports on the death of Shaniya Davis.

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Mourners pay tribute to slain 5-year-old
Nov. 23: Thousands gather to remember 5-year-old North Carolina girl Shaniya Davis, who police say was abducted, raped and murdered earlier this month. NBC’s Ron Mott reports.

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Shaniya's dad: ‘She touched a lot of people’
Nov. 24: In an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Meredith Vieira, Brad Lockhart, the father of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, who was abducted and murdered earlier this month, remembers his daughter and talks about the allegations against her mother.

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updated 10:31 a.m. ET Nov. 26, 2009

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal has paid for the funeral of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl whose kidnapping and slaying received national news coverage.

The Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina reported Thursday that the Cleveland Cavaliers player was touched by the case of Shaniya Davis.

More than 2,000 people attended her funeral Sunday. The girl's body was found Nov. 16 beside a rural road.

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Her mother, Antionette Davis, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Mario McNeill is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping.

The funeral home declined to say what the service cost.

A Cavaliers official did not return calls from The Associated Press early Thursday. The funeral home declined comment.