Three Maryland lawmakers who represent Baltimore are calling on the state Department of Human Services and the State’s Attorney’s Office to immediately release records detailing whether more could have been done to save Zona Byrd, a 5-year-old who starved to death last month and whose parents now face murder and child abuse charges.

Meanwhile, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said he will not comply with the request, citing legal and ethical boundaries, among other reasons.

State Sen. Cory McCray and state Delegates Jackie Addison and Stephanie Smith, all Democrats, called transparency in cases like this one essential — both to hold accountable anyone who could have done more to help Zona, and to protect other vulnerable children from suffering a similar, tragic fate.

McCray said records detailing interactions between the Byrd family and Child Protective Services, the division that investigates child abuse and neglect, should be released as soon as possible. State law allows for this, although it is rarely ever done.

“As a father of four and a son of Baltimore, the loss of young Zona Byrd hits close to home,” McCray said. “As leaders, we must ensure that the balance is struck between sharing information and protecting the integrity of justice.”

Gov. Wes Moore is horrified by Zona’s death, said his spokesperson Carter Elliott IV. But Moore, Mayor Brandon Scott and City Council President-elect Zeke Cohen all declined to say whether they support the release of records in this case.

When Zona’s body was discovered, her ribs were visible and her hands were “ice cold,” according to a police report. She weighed just 17½ pounds, a healthy weight for a 9-month-old baby. A pediatrician said it would have taken months for her body to deteriorate so dramatically, raising questions about why no one did enough to save her.

Zona’s parents — Bernice Byrd, 32, and Gerald Byrd, 34 — had previously harmed their children and lost custody, only to regain it, a prosecutor said in court. And a law enforcement officer with knowledge of the case said social workers had stopped visiting the family sometime earlier this year.

The timing and reason for that change is not known.

Addison said simply — “All records should be released immediately.”

Smith decried the children who die every week in this state because of what she called an overburdened child protection system. State Department of Human Services data reveals that the number of child fatalities in Maryland due to suspected abuse or neglect has risen sharply in recent years, peaking in 2023 at about two per week. (The department noted that some of their investigations into the deaths determined there wasn’t any maltreatment.)

“Zona deserved so much better than this heartbreaking conclusion to an all-too-brief life,” Smith said. “Maryland has a law that requires the publication of Child Protective Services records and a bureaucracy that’s dragging its feet to provide transparency.”

Smith also called for the Maryland Joint Audit and Appropriations Committees she sits on to start tracking the release of records in all similar situations, and to boost funding for social workers, even amid a looming budget crunch.

“We can prevent the suffering and deaths of other children by immediately evaluating cases like Zona’s and increasing the Child Protective Services workforce,” she said. “This didn’t have to happen.”

State law keeps child abuse records confidential, but when a death occurs, the law requires officials to release some information upon request, such as dates of reports of abuse, findings by investigators, and services provided to the abuser. State lawmakers amended the confidentiality provisions after Pikesville third-grader Rita Fisher died in 1997 of torture and abuse at the hands of her family.

However, in practice, the state Department of Human Services rarely releases these records in a timely manner, making it difficult for the public to understand whether more could have been done to prevent the deaths of children who were abused.

Bates said his office does not release evidence to the public when an investigation is ongoing or a trial is pending to protect witnesses, safeguard the defendant’s right to a fair trial, and maintain the integrity of the judicial process.

“While I certainly understand and appreciate the public’s desire to learn more information, I must prioritize the integrity of ongoing investigations and the principles of a fair judicial process,” he said.

State Delegate Susan McComas, a Republican from Harford County, introduced legislation last year that would force the public release of records in cases like Zona’s. House Bill 1091 was considered by the Judiciary Committee, where no opposition was recorded, but it never got a vote.

During a hearing on the bill, McComas said the legal exception allowing state’s attorneys like Bates to block the release of information by citing an ongoing investigation or prosecution must be amended.

“Privacy must not be the determining factor when the very life of a child is at stake,” McComas said. “Keeping these reports from the public only hurts the children, as the vigilant eyes and ears of the public are not utilized to protect [them].”