DSS Asked To Investigate Shortly Before East Charlotte Child Killed

School officials in Mecklenburg County reported signs of abuse more than a month before a 3-year-old girl died from internal injuries.

Police arrested 20-year-old Andrew Cortez Price on Friday and charged him with murder in the death of Shinaye Smith. Officers said Price is the boyfriend of Smith's mother.

Eyewitness News uncovered an internal email sent out by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials on the day Smith died. The email states: "On September 29th, the student (Smith) came to school with a bruised and swollen left side of the face."

Hickory Grove Elementary School’s nurse reported the incident to the Department of Social Services in Mecklenburg County. But, according to the e-mail, DSS returned the report, saying "the allegations reported, if true, do not fall within any of the North Carolina statutory definitions of abuse, neglect or dependency."

DSS officials said they could not comment on specific cases, but said each claim of abuse is investigated through a strict protocol.

The statutory definitions of "abuse, neglect or dependency" are available online. Click here.

You can read the entire juvenile code by clicking here.

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