BERTIE COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - A child’s death that prompted the state to take over the Bertie County Department of Social Services is now classified as a homicide.

Jamie Drain died on December 2nd at a home on Jack Branch Road, outside of Lewiston Woodville.

An autopsy released today says the 2-year-old had been returned to her mother after being taken into DSS custody following a child abuse case.

The document says the mother was in the kitchen cooking while her daughter was playing. “The decedent was standing in the kitchen eating when the mother heard a thud,” the autopsy said. The mother turned around and found the child had fallen face-first, striking her forehead, the document said.

But the autopsy says the toddler had “extensive head trauma with scalp contusions, face contusions,

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