Gaston police are investigating whether 2-year-old Addison Lanham was sexually assaulted, police officials said Thursday afternoon.

Capt. Jay Human would not discuss specifics, but acknowledged that police were looking into sexual assault after the Observer asked about the 911 call her mother, Shanna Lanham, made.

During that call - in which Lanham reported her daughter was unresponsive - Lanham also told the operator that the girl had cut her private parts while taking a bath. When the 911 operator asked how the injury happened, Lanham said that Addison was playing in the tub and fell.

The toddler died last week at Gaston Memorial Hospital. An autopsy, police said, shows the toddler died of a blood infection and that she had a broken leg that did not receive care.

Lanham, 32, and her boyfriend Jason Wells, 33, were charged this week with involuntary manslaughter, felony child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Wells, a convicted sex offender, was babysitting the 2-year-old when she first become unresponsive. He called Lanham, who rushed to the motel and then called 911.

They're each being held at the Gaston County Jail on individual bonds in excess of $1 million.

The couple knew Addison was hurt, but didn't seek medical care because they feared Lanham would lose custody of her daughter, Human said.

The Department of Social Services had recently opened an investigation after the agency received several calls about the mother and her boyfriend, he said.

Three family members told the Observer in two separate interviews Wednesday that they called DSS officials more than six times this spring, pleading with them to remove the girl from her mother's care. They said Addison was in danger, living with drug users and a convicted sex offender.

"Shanna and her boyfriend were trying to avoid their investigation," Human said. "She worried that if she would go to the hospital, it'd be reported, and they'd get back on their radar and they could find her."

Human said Lanham met at least once with DSS and she signed an agreement promising not to allow Wells near her daughter.

Keith Moon, director of the Gaston County Department of Social Services, said child services cases are confidential and he could not release information about any death investigation unless it was cleared by the district attorney's office.

On the 911 tape released Thursday, Addison can be heard struggling to breathe as her mother pleads for help. At one point, Lanham holds the phone up to her daughter so the dispatcher can hear the little girl moaning.

"Something is wrong with my baby," Lanham says. "Something is wrong with my baby. She's not responding."

During the conversation, Lanham can barely talk while gasping for air and crying hysterically. The dispatcher asks her three times to repeat where she is, her room number, and the motel's address. Lanham doesn't know the phone number.

"Take some deep breaths. You need to stay calm for me so we can help your baby," the dispatcher says.

Latham describes how she'd been trying to treat boils on the girl's head with peroxide. She said Addison had taken a nap and now her face and arm were swollen.

"The side of her head is red, like blood red," she said. "One of her eyes is swollen shut. I don't understand what is going on."

Cindy Stewart, the manager at America's Best Inn in Bessemer City, and Donna Phillips, who lived in the motel, said they told Lanham to take the baby to the hospital.

"I told her a thousand times to take this child to the doctor," Phillips said. "I told her to let me take this child to the doctor."

Addison's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Ragan Wesleyan Church in Gastonia.

Relatives described Addison as a smart, affectionate child who loved to wear big sunglasses.

Stella Johnston, a relative, said Addison always wanted to hug or be hugged.

"You could see the love in her eyes," she said.