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DHS Workers Charged In Child's Death
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham unsealed a grand jury presentment charging nine people in connection with the death of a disabled teenager on August 4, 2006.

Danieal Kelly weighed only 42 pounds when her body was found in a home that was steaming hot and filled with insects.

"They found her skeletal remains in a dark, stifling, stinking room," Abraham said. "An airless room, her body was covered in sores."

The neglected 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was in the care of the city's Department of Human Services and now people, including DHS workers and her parents, are facing charges in her death.

In addition to her mother and father, the D.A. announced the unprecedented arrest of two DHS employees who allegedly failed to care for Danieal. They also announced the arrest of two employees of a subcontractor who were employed by DHS to check on Danieal.

According to the D.A., Danieal is one of 55 children who have died over the years while in the care of DHS. In this case, the D.A. alleges that following Danieal's death, DHS attempted to cover it up by altering records and she is now calling for a state takeover of the agency.

"The attitude of this agency has been, 'We're OK, we can fix it ourselves,'" said Abraham. "Well they haven't, and they are incapable of fixing it themselves, as time after time after time and death after death after death has proved."

The DHS responded to the situation late Thursday afternoon.

"Certainly the findings in that report indicate everything that DHS doesn't stand for and intends to correct," DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said.

Three friends of the Kelly family are also facing arrests for allegedly lying to the grand jury claiming they had seen the girl and she was not seriously ill.

A federal grand jury is now in the processing of looking into the case.

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