LEWISTON, Maine - State lawmakers are criticizing the state’s Department of Health and Human Services after a young child died in Lewiston, according to Maine’s Total Coverage .

Police say 4-year-old Jasper Smith was found dead in a Lewiston apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. The child’s family says they made several calls to DHHS to try to remove Jasper and his siblings from an unsafe environment.

At a press conference Thursday morning, Republican state lawmakers criticized the Department’s leadership and response to this incident.

“This was a tragedy, and this should never have happened,” Rep. Michael Lemelin, the Republican from Chelsea, said.

While he clarified he is against a red flag law with guns, Lemelin is considering introducing a bill that he described as a re

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