THE gran of a toddler whose death was ruled a homicide has told how she reported signs of abuse of the three-year-old girl months before her death.

A'lona 'Halo' Williams, from Houston in Texas, died last year with almost a litre of blood in her stomach.

Doctors found evidence she had been cruelly beaten and sexually abused.

The girl's mum had claimed the injuries were from a car crash, KHOU-11 reported.

Halo's gran Mikisha Vaughn has blasted the Child Protective Services for failing to respond to her concerns the toddler was being abused.

She had first contacted them in January 2018 when Halo came to her house wearing a splint over a swollen arm.

She said Halo's mum told her the injury had come from a trampoline accident.

Vaughn contacted the CPS hotline but it went to answer phone. She said she left messages but they never replied.

After Halo was treated for a broken arm at Texas Children's Hospital the girl’s mum agreed to let CPS place Halo and her two brothers at the home of her boyfriend’s parents, according to the case files.

Both had criminal records, including burglary and assault charges, which violated CPS policies.

After Vaughn discovered belt marks on Halo in March 2018 her daughter told her that her boyfriend had given Halo “whoopings.”

In April, Halo was admitted to hospital with a lemon-sized knot in her head. Her mum claimed she had hit her head on a slide at the park.

Two months later Vaughn received a call from her daughter saying Halo was seriously ill in hospital.

She told how she cradled her granddaughter as she died.

She told KHOU-11: "The nurses just told me to hold her. I just told her I was sorry. I tried. I didn’t know what else to do, but I tried".

CPS have refused to comment on the case but said they had handed over their files to Houston Police Department after Halo’s death.

Hitting out at the CPS Vaughn said: "You are supposed to do something before, not after".

Police are treating it as murder but are continuing to investigate.

Vaughn is now acting as foster carer for Halo’s brothers and has applied for custody of them.

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