A prosecutor said Indiana's child welfare system failed a 3-year-old girl beaten to death weeks after she was returned to her birth mother, and that foster parents and case workers would be interviewed to find out why.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi stopped short Friday of saying Department of Child Services staff acted criminally, but said foster parents of other children have contacted his office to complain that the state agency, despite extensive reforms, continues to place youngsters in danger.

TaJanay Bailey died Tuesday of blunt force trauma to her head, neck and abdomen after authorities say she was repeatedly beaten for wetting her pants and soiling herself.

TaJanay had been in foster care most of her life but was returned to the custody of her mother on Oct. 31.

"Something went very, very wrong here. There were checks and
balances that were not met," Brizzi said. "The baby was returned to parents who are abusive, and a couple of weeks later she's no longer with us."

Brizzi, speaking to reporters after a court hearing for the girl's mother and her boyfriend, said he did not want to condemn state workers who "are trying to do their best with limited resources."

"My hope is that a little girl's death isn't meaningless. We can't bring her back. We can put these two individuals away for the rest of their lives," Brizzi said. "But if it doesn't actually change the system, if it doesn't make it better, if it doesn't fill in the gaps, then we're not doing our job."

TaJanay died on the same day that the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national child advocacy group, honored Gov. Mitch Daniels and DCS
for reforms since 2005 to Indiana's child welfare system.

DCS spokeswoman Susan Tielking said the agency was cooperating
with Brizzi's office and was turning over its file on the case. She
said it was premature to make conclusions, but the agency still was
implementing the reforms Daniels ordered when he took office in
January 2005.

The girl's mother, Charity Bailey, and her boyfriend, Lawrence Green, both 20, had initial court hearings Friday on murder and neglect charges. They made no statements in court, but Green told reporters before the hearing that "I'm not the one who whipped her."

Brizzi is seeking sentences of life without parole for both Bailey and Green, who are being held without bond at the Marion County Jail. A judge entered not guilty pleas on all charges for them.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)