Public Advocate Investigates Whether ACS Cutbacks Led To Underweight Girl's Death

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Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is launching an investigation to see if the Administration for Children's Services could have done more to prevent last week's death of an underweight four-year-old Brooklyn girl.

Carlotta Brett-Pierce was indicted and charged yesterday with second-degree assault of her daughter, Marchella Pierce, and additional charges are still pending.

Police found Marchella inside her Bedford-Stuyvesant home on September 2 and pronounced the 15-pound girl dead on the scene.

In a letter to ACS Commissioner John Mattingly, de Blasio suggests a decision to cut back preventive services may have contributed to Marchella's death.

De Blasio calls for a review on ACS policies and practices and demands the agency re-examine all the cases that were closed earlier this year.

Marchella was born premature with serious health problems, including undersized lungs, according to her father.

Prosecutors allege she was beaten and may have been tied to a bed.