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Danieal's story

ON MANY SCORES, the grand-jury report on the short life and horrendous death of Danieal Kelly is a remarkable document. From its opening line, "We almost wish this had been a whodunit," to its last, "No More." the report has an element

ON MANY SCORES, the grand-jury report on the short life and horrendous death of Danieal Kelly is a remarkable document. From its opening line, "We almost wish this had been a whodunit," to its last, "No More." the report has an element rarely found in legal documents: humanity. Clearly, the author of the report was outraged at how multiple failures - of parents, DHS, DHS providers and others - caused the death of a neglected, bedsore-ridden 14-year-old girl who weighed 42 pounds when she died. The report is as compelling as a work of fiction. And sickening, because it's true. What's also remarkable about this case is the fact that two DHS workers and two private social workers were charged in Danieal's death. This unusual move may finally bring long-overdue changes to DHS. But DHS isn't the only one that needs to change: we all do. Because her story is not the first, we are all complicit in tolerating the level of institutional failure that killed her. The grand-jury report is on

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. com. Because it includes Danieal's autopsy photo, it comes with a warning. We'll add another: By the time you finish reading the story of her death, a small part of your soul will have died, too. *