Georgia's child protection agency removed 2-year-old Laila Marie Daniel from her troubled mother and placed her in foster care.

That is among the state's strongest exercises of power over an individual: to take your kids away.

But four months after Laila arrived at the foster home of Jennifer Rosenbaum, the little girl was dead. Rosenbaum has been charged with her murder.

Georgia had the power to remove Laila from her mother, to protect her. And it is a betrayal of that power when a child, placed in foster care, dies while under the state's watch.

And it demands a reckoning.

To learn more about the tragic death of Laila Marie Daniel, read the full story at myajc.com.