MISSOURI CITY – Davante Clark and his girlfriend were sleeping in the parking lot near Karen Miles’ apartment when the Missouri City mother disappeared last month.
They were living out the girlfriend’s car and the Hometowne Senior Living Apartments had become a favorite spot because it was well-lit.
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Investigators believe before 6 a.m. on August 22 Clark confronted Miles at gunpoint as she was getting into her car, possibly headed to her FEMA job. Investigators believe Clark forced Miles to drive to a neighborhood he knew well, killed her and took her car.
TIMELINE: Case of missing Missouri City mother, Karen Miles
It was the girlfriend who helped investigators build a case after he went missing and she got worried first and then suspicious.
The court documents revealed the following story of their relationship and the unraveling of Clark’s case:
Davante Clark and the girlfriend had known each other since middle school in Arkansas. After reconnecting on social media, Clark convinced her to move to the Houston area. She came to Missouri City in July with only a few possessions in her car.
READ: Karen Miles’ friend believed to be last to speak with her before disappearance
Without a place to live or a job, she quickly found work delivering groceries and Clark would sometimes ride along with her while she worked. At night, they slept in her car, and because the Hometowne Senior Living Apartments had a parking lot with good lighting, they sometimes slept there.
One morning at approximately 5:30 and around the time 61-year-old Miles disappeared, the girlfriend said she remembers waking up, hearing the driver’s door slam shut. Clark was running toward an SUV. She said she couldn’t see who was in it or if Miles got into the car, but knows the car sped away. She told investigators she went back to sleep. Her description of the vehicle matched the grey SUV Miles drove.
RELATED: Body of missing Missouri City mother Karen Miles identified; man charged with capital murder
Within an hour, Clark returned and told her, “We are good, I have a vehicle now.”
The girlfriend said she didn’t ask questions. Clark asked her to follow him in her car to Roane Park in Missouri City, which she did. they parked the grey SUV there and both left in the girlfriend’s car.
August 21 was the last time anyone had talked with Karen Miles. She was a prolific poster of Facebook, was deeply engaged in the community, including being a member of the Black Heritage Committee with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Miles worked a long day that Wednesday, clocking in at 5:45 a.m. and out at 6:45 p.m.
Her last Facebook post that night was aroujd 10:30.
The next day, Karen Miles did not show up for work.
In the following days, after friends contacted her children who lived out of town, family reported her missing.
On August 28, Pearland police found Miles’ car in an HEB parking lot with Arkansas plates. Devant Clark was in the car, although he gave police a false name and also told officers he’d rented the car from a guy in Arkansas for $500. He also was carrying a Glock. Police ran his fingerprints, figured out his real name and arrested him for a fictitious license plate and unlawfully carrying a weapon.
Clark went to jail and his girlfriend wasn’t sure what had happened but saw flyers on a website about Karen Miles missing and reached out to the Miles family on Facebook. Coyet documents do not say if she ever made contact with them.
After his arrest, Clark called his girlfriend asking if she could bail him out.
She questioned him about driving a missing person’s vehicle but said Clark did not talk about the details of his arrest.
Meantime, detectives who interviewed Clark asked to look at his phone. He said no and told them to turn it off. They came back with a warrant and contacted the girlfriend after seeing a number of calls to her from the jail.
READ: Skeletal remains found in deeply wooded area during search for missing Missouri City mother
The girlfriend told investigators she had never seen or delivered groceries to Karen Miles but did believe they were sleeping in the parking lot of her apartment complex when she disappeared.
The investigation from that point turned to forensics.
A Baytown expert was able to extract information from the infotainment system in Miles’ SUV, which placed the car at the location where detectives found her body, which was about 15 minutes away from Miles’ apartment in a grassy area. Clark knew the area, court documents say, because another ex-girlfriend they interviewed lived about 500 yards away.
Clark has since been charged with murder.
Texas EquuSearch told investigators Clark was also connected to two other missing persons cases in Harris County - in both, the victims’ cars were stolen.
To date, investigators with Harris County have not answered our questions about the status of those cases or whether they are actively investigating Clark.