Public Advocate Opens Probe Into Death of 4-Year-Old Brooklyn Girl

Budget cuts that created pressure to close or shift oversight of child welfare cases may have led to last week's death of a 4-year-old, malnourished Brooklyn girl. That's the concern of New York's Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who on Friday announced a probe of the death of Marchella Pierce.

The cuts were eventually restored, but de Blasio says not before more than 2,000 cases were closed between April and July. He questions whether that was appropriate: "Were there families who still needed preventive services who lost them and lost them prematurely?"

Marchella Pierce's case was never closed. The city ended a contract with the agency that was supposed to be monitoring her, citing poor performance. The case was transferred back to ACS still open. But it is unclear who was supposed to be monitoring the child that was sickly, fragile and in need of special medical care. Her mother is currently being held on assault charges. 

The medical examiner is still trying to determine the cause of the child's death. The city's child welfare agency is conducting its own review and will release information in the next few days. de Blasio's office has requested information from the agency by September 24.

"We've got to find out how on earth this severe a case was missed because a child in this much danger, 4 years old, 18 pounds -- this should have been all over ACS' radar", says de Blasio.