Sorensen told police she had not been asleep while holding her daughter in bed and that she had not used alcohol or drugs. Mudrock said investigators found no evidence to dispute that statement.

The medical examiner also noticed the girl had a very small thymus, a lymphoid organ in the neck, which could be a sign of stress, chronic infection or malnutrition.

The past history of a mother could also be a factor in determining how the child died.

"It would matter to everyone in terms of taking a closer look," Brewer, the guardian ad litem, said.

Sorensen has given birth to four children, two of whom have died.

"I don't know if we can call two a pattern or not," Mudrock said.

A study of the state Division of Child and Family Services records shows the state had extensive contact with Sorensen both as a child and a parent. There were also state discussions about her ability to parent after Kalee died.

In April 2003, DCFS supported an allegation of child endangerment against Sorensen involving her 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. A drug treatment center reported that Sorensen was using meth again.

After two unannounced visits and interviews, however, the division determined that the children did not need to be removed from the home.

According to the DHS Child Fatality Review Committee report, a caseworker, a supervisor and two assistant attorneys general discussed the ramifications of — and reasons for — exemption from a law requiring a parental rights termination petition be filed if a parent is guilty of child homicide.

"The group decided that a compelling reason to circumvent the law would be that (Sorensen) had completed two years of drug treatment and had sought treatment on her own when she relapsed."

Though Sorensen had agreed to random drug tests, she never showed up, prompting DCFS to place the children with relatives. Sorensen later in 2003 voluntarily relinquished her parental rights, and DCFS involvement ended.

By late summer, she was pregnant with Alexandria.

Documents about Sorensen's case show the Child Fatality Review Committee has some recommendations for caseworkers regarding women who've lost their parental rights or have had a child die due to abuse or neglect. If a woman with this history becomes pregnant, caseworkers should notify the attorney general, according to the documents.

The Attorney General's Office could then send a letter to local hospitals asking them to notify DCFS when the baby is born.

Assistant Attorney General Mark May, who heads the child protection unit, said the state used to routinely send such letters to hospitals but discontinued the practice after a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a South Carolina case found it unconstitutional.

Whether it would have made a difference in this case isn't known. But even Sorensen said she was surprised no one from the state contacted her after Alexandria's birth.

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Contributing: KSL-TV; E-mail: romboy@desnews.com;lucy@desnews.com