How child services repeatedly failed to protect disabled girl, 2, before she was 'killed by her mother who smashed her head against the wall'
- Aliyah Marie Branum was savagely beaten, smothered and neglected in her short life
- Her mother Chelsea Huggett, 21, is facing first-degree murder charge over her daughter's death in Florida
Angel: Aliyah Marie Branum was savagely beaten in the months before her death
A two-year-old disabled girl was repeatedly let down by social services it was claimed today after authorities missed opportunities to save her in the months before she was allegedly murdered by her own mother.
Aliyah Marie Branum was savagely beaten, smothered and neglected in her short life.
In April, her 21-year-old mother is believed to have fatally injured her after smashing her head against the wall because she would not stop 'whining'.
Chelsea Huggett, from Florida, faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
Police were called to Huggett's home on April 26, where Aliyah was found unconscious.
The little girl was pronounced dead in hospital. Her skull had been cracked open.
Records obtained by the Miami Herald this week show that there were repeated warning signs that Aliyah was being viciously abused by an unstable mother who could not take care of her needs.
Huggett was investigated in the nine months before her daughter died following two calls to an abuse and neglect hotline revealed that the girl and her mother were homeless.
Aliyah was born with several disabilities but her mother failed to address her needs properly. Her diaper was rarely changed, leaving bleeding sores on her legs.
Mother: Chelsea Huggett, from Florida, faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse after police were called to her home on April 26, where her child Aliyah was unconscious
Lies: Huggett initially told police that her boyfriend killed Aliyah by spraying bug spray on her
Child services then asked Huggett in January 2013 about bruises on her daughter's thighs to which she angrily denied abusing her daughter. Aliyah was again left in her mother's care.
There were separate reports that Huggett, a former soldier with a history of anger issues, had tried to smother her daughter while sitting in a veterans' services office.
Aliyah is believed to be one of dozens of children who have died following oversights by the Department of Children and Families in Florida, the Herald reported.
The man in charge David Wilkins was fired last month as lawmakers this week began an investigation into how the abused children slipped through the net.
At the time of her death, investigators say Aliyah had bruises all over her body, including her face, head, arms, legs, back and shoulders. She had yellow fluid coming from her ears and was bleeding from her nose and ears.
Victim: Child services in Florida face difficult questions as to why the two-year-old's injuries and reports of her mother's violent behavior was not investigated thoroughly
Huggett, who has her daughter’s name and birthday tattooed across her chest, first blamed her boyfriend for the toddler's injuries.
She told police that he had killed her by spraying bug spray on the little girl.
She later confessed to the terrible child abuse, telling police that she shook her because she whined all of the time and wanted to sit on her lap and climb over her all the time.
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A few hours later, she yelled at her daughter to 'shut the f*** up' and covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her cries, according to the police report from April.
The medical examiner also determined Aliyah had a skull fracture and hemorrhaging on the left side of her swollen brain, News 10 reports.
Citrus County Sheriff Jeffrey J. Dawsy said: 'This is a brutal murder of a defenseless child, of a two-year-old, and she could have sought help of numerous occasions and she failed to do that.'
History: The Department of Children and Families investigated Huggert according to public records recently released - but saw no reason to remove her from her mother
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