BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The beating death of 6-month-old Ayonna Thompson on Wednesday morning marked the eighth time a child died of abuse or neglect in Kern County this year.

"One child death is one too many," said Bethany Christman, assistant director of the Department of Human Services.

Kern County had eight child deaths related to abuse and neglect in 2008, also.

State figures show that Kern County is reporting more child deaths due to abuse and neglect than larger, more populated counties. Christman said part of the reason may be because counties report child deaths differently, or there is varying interpretations of what constitutes abuse and neglect.

"If we find neglect, we would report that as a death due to abuse and neglect," said Christman. "Another county that had a drowning from law enforcement or the coroner would not report that as a death due to abuse or neglect. So that's where you have variances."

But in some cases, Christman admitted, Child Protective Services has had prior contacts with a child's family and red flags may have been missed.

"Are there mistakes made? You bet. But we're human, like any other profession, there will be mistakes. And we try to minimize those," said Christman.

The county also has a "child death review" team that examines deaths of children 17 and under. Team member Karen Cooley said a common denominator in child deaths is little to no adult supervision.

"A fair number of these deaths could have been prevented, especially with drownings. Virtually all of them could have been prevented," said Cooley.

Cooley said children 2 years old and younger are most susceptible to die from abuse and neglect, because these youngsters are generally at home most of the time and do not come in contact with anyone else in a position to report any abuse.

Anyone who suspects child abuse or neglect is urged to call the hotline run by Child Protective Services at (661) 631-6110.