A neighbor of a teen girl found dead in Prince William County after her mother reported her missing two days earlier said the child went to their home six weeks earlier wearing only her underwear, suffering from a head wound and wrapping herself in a tarp, according to the Washington Post.
Alexis Glover told the neighbors that her mother hit her with a stick and that she didn't want to go back home, the paper reported.
On Tuesday, the child's mother, Alfreedia Gregg-Glover, was charged in connection with her death. The teen's body was found in a creek bed in the Woodbridge area on Jan. 9, two days after her mother told police she ran away.
"She said she had been beaten numerous times," neighbor Wes Byers told the Post. "She had to earn her clothes; she had to earn her food. She mentioned her mother hitting her with a stick . . . because she put on a shirt and she hadn't earned it."
The neighbors went on to say they talked to Prince William County Social Services, an officer went to their home and let the child return to her mother after being treated for her injury. Officials are currently investigating the case to see what, if anything, could have been done differently.
For more on what the neighbor saw when police and the child's mother got involved, click here.