DETROIT – Opening statements were Wednesday in the trial of a Detroit father who is charged with murdering his 2-year-old daughter.
Bianca Jones hasn't been seen since Dec. 2, 2011, when her father, D'Andre Lane, said he was carjacked with her in the back seat.
Police found Lane's car a short time later, but the girl wasn't in it.
Lane is accused of beating Bianca to death with a stick with a towel wrapped in duct tape, and disposing of her body. Lane told officers during questioning that he had spanked the child for wetting herself. However, her body has still not been found.
Defense attorney Terry Johnson has said prosecutors have no evidence against Lane, and their "case is based on the argument that he spanked her."
Lane is charged with murder and child abuse.
--Bianca Jones' mother, Banika Jones.
Banika Jones, Bianca's mother, testified that when she had found out she was pregnant, she and Lane planned to get an abortion. But they didn't go through with it. Banika Jones said she never had any concerns about Lane taking care of their daughter and that he had even volunteered to watch her instead of having her go to daycare. The mother said her daughter spend lots of time with her father, but hadn't ever spent the night until Nov. 28, 2011 -- that's when she dropped the girl off for a visit that would last a couple of days.
"I would do anything to have my daughter home," Banika Jones said.