A child welfare worker was assigned to go to Cyrus Belt's home after his mother tested positive for crystal methamphetamine six days before the toddler was thrown to his death from an H-1 overpass, a source familiar with the case said.

The visit was scheduled for the afternoon of the day he died.

It would have been the latest of several contacts Nancy Asiata Chanco had with child welfare services before her son died. The visit would have included a full assessment of the boy's living conditions and the parenting at home.

The visit was ordered after Chanco went to The Queen's Medical Center emergency room complaining of "a sore eye" on Jan. 11, state Department of Human Services records show.

While there, she was screened for drugs and tested positive for crystal methamphetamine or ice, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information hasn't been formally released.

Chanco told hospital employees of her history with state Child Welfare Services and said her child lived with her grandfather and his wife, the records show.

CWS officials had taken Cyrus into protective custody for four days on June 19, 2006, because Chanco had left the boy with his father and his father's girlfriend in a residence without electricity. He was 4 1/2 months old then.

The hospital reported the mother's drug test results to the state, which immediately began a review of Chanco's CWS file and raised questions about her ability to maintain a safe home for Cyrus, the source said.

Catholic Charities of Hawaii was scheduled to go to Cyrus' home the afternoon of the day he died to conduct a full assessment of living and parenting conditions, the source said.

Chanco, who has a history of ice use, would not comment yesterday at her 'Iolani Avenue apartment.

Matthew M. Higa is being held on $1 million bail on a charge of second-degree murder in Cyrus' death.

Witnesses told police they saw Higa throw the child off the freeway overpass about 11:43 a.m. Thursday. Higa was arrested a short distance from the overpass, at 513 Prospect St., at 12:15 p.m., police said.

He is scheduled for an initial court appearance today.

Higa was tested for drugs after his arrest, and police said yesterday they are awaiting the results.

He lived with his father in the same Punchbowl-area apartment building as the child.

SUSPECT SEEN EARLIER

Police records show Higa was seen in the boy's neighborhood by police officers who first responded to reports that the child was wandering in the street.

At 11:12 a.m., Officer Bryson Romain, responding to the call of a wandering toddler, arrived and saw off-duty Officer Darryl Jones standing next to a "male family member" of the boy who was "holding a child," according to court documents.

Jones had found Cyrus wandering in the middle of the road in the area of 330 'Iolani Ave., near Chanco's apartment building, police said. Jones called in the report, retrieved the child and went looking for the boy's family.

Jones found the boy's grandfather, Lilo Asiata, and returned the child.

When Romain arrived, he saw Jones and Asiata, and also observed "a heavyset male, later identified as Higa, opposite 330 Iolani Avenue, wearing green hospital scrubs," the affidavit said.

DID POLICE CALL CPS?

Child welfare records state "no known call made to CPS (Child Protective Services) regarding wandering child."

Had the state been aware that Cyrus was found wandering that Thursday morning, officials would have intervened but they were never called by police, said Lillian B. Koller, director of the state Department of Human Services.

"This really was an unforeseeable type of thing," Koller said. "Stacked up with what we have in our records, it would have inflated our response."

When officers find a wandering child, they have the discretion to find a family member or other guardian or to call Child Welfare Services, police said. If an officer can find the child's family quickly and determines the child is not in danger, the officer has the discretion to return the child to the home, police said.

If the officer decides the child is in an unsafe situation, the officer can take custody of the child on behalf of the state, police said. In Hawai'i, police officers and deputy sheriffs have the authority to remove a child from the custody of guardians.

Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Peter Carlisle had "no comment" yesterday when asked if criminal charges could be brought against family members or caregivers of Cyrus, but legal experts say possible criminal liability for Cyrus' death does not seem to extend beyond the person who threw him from the bridge.

HARD TO CHARGE FAMILY

It is a crime under state law to endanger the welfare of a minor by knowingly or recklessly allowing someone else to "inflict serious or substantial injury" on a minor.

Knowingly allowing such conduct is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Recklessly allowing the conduct is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison.

Criminal defense lawyer Howard Luke would not discuss the Higa case specifically but said that in cases with similar circumstances, prosecutors would be hard-pressed to bring charges against relatives of a murdered child.

"Realistically, in a case involving a terrible family tragedy, particularly the death of a child, I think a prosecutor would take great pause before bringing a criminal charge against a family member who did not harm the child," Luke said.

"What does the prosecution gain from that? What is the benefit to society?

"I don't see anything to be gained from bringing a criminal charge against someone who's already going through the agony of losing a dearly loved child."

Private attorney Frank O'Brien, who practices family law and who has sued the Department of Human Services and Child Welfare Services agency in the past over child custody and endangerment issues, was also unwilling to speak specifically about the Higa case.

"Let's assume that a mother left her child at home in the care of a responsible adult," O'Brien said.

If the child then was harmed by a third party, "I don't see how there would be any degree of legal jeopardy" for the mother, he said.

"Or let's suppose the mother knew the responsible adult was asleep at the time she left. That's obviously not the best situation for the child," he continued.

"If the child then somehow got outside, fell down the stairs and was injured, then the department (of Human Services) would probably view that as a case of neglect, but not a crime."

But if a third party harmed the child, charging a family member with a crime would be difficult, he said.

STATUS OF TWO OTHER KIDS

Koller, at the state Department of Human Services, said Child Welfare Services is currently looking for Chanco's two remaining children to ensure their safety.

Chanco is not living with or raising her other two children, but because of the circumstances surrounding Cyrus' death, the state wants to ensure the children are being cared for, Koller said.

"We have not received any complaints involving the other two children, but we don't want to take anything for granted," Koller said.