COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Social Services said Friday it will examine what happened in the Justine May case under the state’s child-fatality review statutes, working at both the county and statewide levels.
DSS said the review will include independent community partners listed in state law. Agencies expected to take part include local police departments, SLED investigators, the county coroner, a pediatric specialist in child abuse, DSS staff and other stakeholders.
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Another track runs through the statewide child-fatality advisory panel, which SLED’s child-fatality unit helps coordinate. That panel draws in DSS, other state agencies, medical and abuse specialists, prosecutors, lawmakers and public members named by the governor.
Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities officials said a mobile crisis crew visited the May residence on Sept. 12, several days before the children died. The department said it is assisting investigators and joining both the local review team and the state advisory committee work.
The reviews focus on how agencies shared information and on the circumstances around the deaths. They sit apart from the criminal case against May and from any separate law-enforcement inquiry the coroner may seek.
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