State child welfare officials are investigating whether the Army failed to tell civilian authorities about reports that 5-year-old Talia Williams was a victim of abuse in the months before her beating death.

"What is very important for us is to find out if there were reports and if so why we didn't get them and what didn't work in the transmission process," said Lillian Koller, director of the Department of Human Services. "There shouldn't be anyone sitting over there trying to exercise their discretion over in the military, saying this shouldn't be reported."

A source close to the investigation told The Advertiser on Wednesday that Army officials at Schofield Barracks received at least two formal complaints that Talia's father and stepmother abused her.

Koller stressed yesterday that she needs to know more about those reports before reaching any conclusions.

"I don't know if there is a systemic problem," she said. "We have lots of military cases. We get timely reports from the military all the time. This strikes us as aberrant."

Koller's comments came as the federal public defender appointed to represent Talia's stepmother, Delilah S. Williams, said his client contacted the Army more than once seeking help at least four months before the child was killed, but the Army did not respond.

Public defender Alexander Silvert, however, declined to comment about what kind of assistance Delilah Williams sought from the military.

Silvert also said military police responded to the family's apartment at Wheeler Army Airfield on several occasions, but found no evidence of child abuse, Silvert said.

"I just hope the public and the press will keep an open mind. There are always two sides to a story," said Silvert. "She reached out to the military seeking assistance more than once and the military did not respond."

Silvert reserved further comment.

The Army has declined to answer specific questions about the case, citing an ongoing criminal investigation, and did not respond late yesterday to a request seeking comment on the remarks by Koller and Silvert.

Delilah Williams was charged with murder in connection with Talia's death. Talia's father, Naeem Williams, who is a Schofield Barracks soldier, is being held by military authorities in "pretrial confinement" and has not been formally charged.

Talia was taken to the hospital Saturday after emergency medical personnel were called to the apartment and found her unresponsive. At the hospital, she was pronounced dead.

An agreement between the Department of Human Services and military officials in Hawai'i requires military investigators to report all "known and suspected incidents of child abuse" to the state agency. But DHS officials were never told about the complaints, a DHS spokesman said.

Koller said she should know by the end of the month what happened. She said the agreement, which has no penalties for noncompliance, may need strengthening.

She said she expects that military officials will supply her with all necessary documents.

"I am sure they will cooperate," she said.

According to court documents filed Monday, Delilah Williams told Army investigators that her husband spanked Talia with a belt Saturday morning for wetting herself and struck her later that day after she wet herself again. It was during the second beating that the child hit her head on the floor and lost consciousness. The Williamses initially delayed calling 911 but when they did and emergency medical personnel arrived, Talia had no pulse, the documents said.

Talia died of "inflicted head trauma due to battered child syndrome," the Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office said.

The circumstances that brought Talia to Hawai'i remain unclear.

The court order that granted custody of Talia to her father last December — and the reasons justifying that decision — are part of confidential Family Court records in Orangeburg, S.C. Her biological mother, Tarshia Williams, has refused to discuss that decision.

Similarly, the South Carolina Department of Social Services would not say yesterday if they had ever been asked to investigate how Talia was treated while under her mother's care.

A detention hearing for Delilah Williams was delayed yesterday and has been rescheduled for Tuesday.