Carlotta Brett-Pierce poses for the camera, with one of her sons on the floor. Her daughter Marchella died last month after possible abuse. — Photo from Bret-Pierce’s MySpace

The September death of a 4-year-old Ocean Hill girl who weighed only 18 pounds prompted the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office to open a criminal investigation into the actions of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services and a private provider who were both responsible for monitoring the wellbeing of the child. The investigation into the city’s agency is the first of its kind, according to the prosecutors office.

At a City Council hearing on Tuesday, ACS commissioner John Mattingly admitted to "critical" missteps in the handling of the child’s case, according to the New York Times. The child, Marchella Pierce, was born three months premature and was hospitalized most of her life until she returned home to the care of her mother, Carlotta Brett-Pierce, in February of this year. 

ACS began monitoring the family back in November 2009 after Brett-Pierce gave birth to a son who tested positive for drugs. After only 3 months ACS assigned the case to Child Development Support Corporation, a Brooklyn based private provider who was responsible for monitoring Marchella and her two brothers, an infant and 5-year-old, and providing drug treatment for Brett-Pierce. 

A preliminary report released at the City Council hearing finds that Marchella’s home care was "grossly inadequate." Brett-Pierce apparently tied Marchella to her bed with rope to prevent the child from opening the refrigerator at night. The mother is also alleged to have used a belt and videocassette case to beat the severely malnourished girl.

Brett-Pierce was visited in March by ACS after Marchella was taken to the hospital because her tracheal tube had been dislodged. A hospital worker concerned about the child alerted authorities which promoted the March visit. The next time ACS allegedly visited the family was in June, but according to the case worker nobody was home at the time. According to the Times, the same case worker then chnaged his story, saying he had indeed visited with the children; this new information only came out after the child’s death. ACS also claims to have visited the family in April, July, and August but the visits were not recorded, causing agency officials to doubt if the visits ever took place. Since Marchella’s death the caseworker and a supervisor from ACS have been suspended for 30 days without pay pending further investigation. 

Child Development Support’s involvement in the case has also come into question after it was revealed that the family was only visited three times over the span of five months. In February a supervisor for CDS noted that Brett-Pierce was not complying with her drug treatment program and attending only sporadically. A month later in March, Brett-Pierce again tested positive for marijuana and threatened an employee at the drug treatment center. The initial City Council report finds that CDS never informed ACS of its findings, which is required.

CDS claims that their contract with ACS ended in June and that the agency is responsible for the child’s death. Company official Marcia Rowe-Riddick told the Times that it is, "unbelievable that they [ACS] continue to throw us under the bus in this case when they had the responsibility the last two months. The fact remains when we were in the home there was nothing going on and the child was still alive."

The finger pointing between ACS and CDS began early on after the child’s death. Both agencies blamed each other for mishandling the case. In a statement on Thursday, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said, "Given the history of the Nixzmary Brown tragedy and the city’s failure to protect that child, I am sufficiently troubled enough by the death of Marchella Pierce to find out why she died." The prosecutors office said it would investigate both the city agency and the subcontractor along with the hospital which released Marchella into the custody of her mother.

Carlotta Brett-Pierce has been charged with felony 1st degree reckless endangerment and assault. She is currently being held at Riker’s Island prison with bail set at $299,999. Investigators are waiting on the results of Marchella’s autopsy to determine if the child died of natural causes or at the hands of her mother.