Suspect In Slaying Of 5-Year-Old Girl Released

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A suspect in the slaying of a 5-year-old Detroit girl whose burned body was found in a vacant house has been released from jail.
The man was let go Friday after being held since Aug. 5 for violating probation in a previous home invasion case.

He has not been charged in Mariha Smith's death. He had been in a relationship with the girl's aunt and was arrested after testing positive for using marijuana.

Mariha disappeared in early morning hours of July 24, sleeping on the floor of her west side home in the 3800 block of Burlingame and was later reported missing. Days later, firefighters found the burned remains of a child in a vacant house about a mile from their home.

According to the Wayne County Medical Examiners' Office, Smith had been asphyxiated and her skull crushed before the house was set fire.

DNA tests later confirmed the body was Mariha's.  Several hundered people attended the girl's funeral last month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.