DECATUR, Ill. (WAND)- Neighbors, community groups and others are calling for action to protect children after a two-year-old girl died of apparent neglect.
Two-year-old Ta’naja Barnes died Monday. Police arrested her mother, Twanka Davis, Wednesday.
Neighbors prepared for a vigil outside the family’s home on East North Street in Decatur.
“Great music, good speaking, everyone coming together for her,” said former neighbor Julianne Salmons. “That’s what this is about, and it’s for her.”
Baby TALK executive director Cindy Bardeleben warned that anger over the case is not enough to protect other children from neglect.
“This is a horrific tragedy that’s happened to a child in Decatur, and I know we’re all appalled by that. I’m very angry about that,” Bardeleben said. “Sometimes what happens in this response is we point fingers. We need to move beyond pointing fingers and start thinking about this community-wide.”
Bardeleben said that means building connections with families and being willing to report signs of neglect and abuse.
“Not on our watch will this happen to our children,” Bardeleben said. “If we’re an agency or a neighbor or an aunt or an uncle and really thinking about what families need, keeping our ears to the ground, and if we need to make a call or offer support, that’s what needs to happen.”
