Last month, NewsChannel 15 filed a Freedom of Information request with the Department of Social Services concerning Tylashia Grant, 3, of Florence. We wanted to find out if DSS had received any complaints about Tylashia's care before her death on January 25.
On January 26, deputies with the Florence County Sheriff's Office charged Jeraldine Brockington and her daughter, Kesia Grant, with homicide by child abuse in Tylasia's death.
Brockington had legal custody of Tylashia through DSS. Autopsy results show the little girl was burned and also suffered cuts to the head.
Two weeks ago, deputies arrested Kendra Grant, Jeraldine's daughter, and charged her with accessory after the fact of a felon in Tylashia's death. Officers say she was present when the child received injuries which lead to her death and failed to report it.
In answering our FOIA request, DSS officials tell us they received three complaints about Tylashia's care before her death. Agency officials say the nature of the complaints and the agency's response to them are under investigation as part of the DSS child family protocol.
DSS says they are prohibited from providing additional information, access to and/or copies of the information NewsChannel 15 requested.
The agency is conducting an internal investigation into the custody of Tylashia Grant from beginning to end.
DSS officials say they're trying to determine if they did everything they were supposed to do in accordance with the policy.
NewsChannel 15 and CarolinaLive.com will continue to stay on top of this story.
