CINCINNATI -- After serving time for child endangerment, Britney Roll Mayes was given custody of her young daughter.
That was one year ago.
Now, 4-year-old Avery Lee Hobbs is dead and her mother is charged with her murder. Investigators said Mayes, 24, killed her daughter with blunt force trauma to the head.
Avery's small body was found in a bathtub on July 29.
Court documents show that Mayes, as well as Avery's maternal and paternal grandparents, all fought for custody at some point in her life.
Avery's paternal grandparents, Tammy and Jonathan Risen, remember her as "a little jokester" who "would just laugh whole-heartedly."
Not enough was done to protect Avery, they said.
"It's such a shame that a little girl like her couldn't grow up to be a beautiful woman," Jonathan Risen said.
Avery stayed with her grandparents for six months while her mother served a jail sentence for child endangering in 2011.
Roll petitioned for custody of her daughter after finishing her six-month prison sentence. She argued in court that Avery's father, Jamie Hobbs, "does not have a job and has abandoned my daughter with no contact in over a month. He also does not have a high school education and is a convicted felon."
One month later, Tammy Risen argued that Britney Roll "does not provide for the infant...does not have a stable home or relationship. Barely visited the infant. (Avery's) half-sister was also removed from Roll's custody for suspected abuse," according to court documents.
Amid the back-and-forth petitions, Avery was committed to temporary custody of Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services in June 2012.
Roll finished required parenting classes over the next year while the Risens had temporary custody of the child. Roll argued that the Risens were unfit guardians, citing an injury the toddler sustained while in their care. At the same time, Avery's father did not attend required parenting classes.
Tammy Risen told the courts in Nov. 2014 that Avery is often bruised on her arms and buttocks after visits with her mother. Despite multiple objection hearings and complaints by family members, Avery was placed back in Roll's care permanently in March 2015.
"This could've been stopped," Tammy Risen said. "This could've been prevented if people would've listened."
In court Thursday, a Hamilton County prosecutor confirmed that Roll (Mayes) is seven-months pregnant. A judge set her bond at $2 million.
