Two little girls, Emory Deacon, age 2, and Harley Deacon, 15 months, were recently found dead inside their Ladson, South Carolina home after apparently going without food and water. Their mother now faces two counts of homicide by child neglect.

The warning signs were there. Since Aug. 10, the Charleston County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) received 21 calls about the home, and deputies responded 13 times. Some of those visits included staff from the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) and a state mental health crisis team. Relatives had reportedly pleaded with the girls' mother to get help. Yet when the final call came in, a dispatcher said the office was "no longer conducting welfare checks at that address," according to 911 audio reported by The Independent.

The sheriff's office says nothing during earlier visits pointed to immediate danger for the children. Families in Charleston County deserve more than that explanation. They deserve a full, independent accounting of what was seen, what was missed, and who decided the checks would stop.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) should open an independent investigation into how CCSO and DSS handled every call. Charleston County Sheriff Carl Ritchie should release the call logs, body camera footage and agency notes from all 13 responses, and end any practice of halting welfare checks at homes where young children live. State lawmakers should also require that any mental health crisis response at a home with small children include a check on those children's safety.

Emory and Harley needed someone to look in on them. Sign the petition to demand answers and stronger protections now, before another child is lost behind a door that stopped being checked.