A California mother has been charged after her two-year-old son, Legend Lee, died days after she allegedly beat him and delayed seeking medical help. The case matters because it has raised questions about child protection decisions, given that the boy had spent his first nine months in foster care before being returned to his biological mother.

Police said Rayzhanna Greenhoward, 22, brought Legend to hospital in Madera on 1 July, where he was pronounced dead, and investigators later alleged he had suffered repeated blunt-force injuries. According to reports, Greenhoward told officers she had hit him with a belt several days earlier because he had wet himself, then waited before taking him for treatment when his condition worsened. She has been charged with murder, assault on a child causing death, and child abuse, while the wider background includes earlier welfare involvement and the child’s time in foster care before reunification.