Nearly a week after the decaying bodies of four girls were found on the floor of a Southeast row house, the public heard the desperate voice of a social worker who tried and failed to save them.

“I’ve been transferred all over,” a clearly exasperated Kathy Lopes told a city non-emergency operator on April 30. “I need someone to go out to a home where I believe abuse and neglect is occurring.”

Lopes, a social worker at Booker T. Washington Charter School, was following up on the disappearance of Brittany Jacks, 17, one of four girls who would later be found dead in the Southeast row house.

Members of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s command staff played tapes of Lopes’ cries for help to justify the firings of six city bureaucrats who Fenty said ignored warnings that the girls’ mother, Banita Jacks, was on the edge.

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A visibly upset Fenty told a news conference that Lopes was the lone bright spot in a dismal tableau.

“Unfortunately, she stands out really because so many other people didn’t do their job in the way they’re supposed to,” the mayor said. “The sense of urgency that she showed should be shown in every case and every call that comes through our hotline.”

A key moment in Fenty’s decision to ax the workers came last week when city Administrator Dan Tangherlini asked social workers why they didn’t call Banita Jacks’ mother when they were told that Banita had moved back to her native Waldorf, Md., a source said.

The staffers told Tangherlini that Jacks’ mother’s phone number couldn’t be found. Tangherlini promptly dialed directory assistance and obtained the woman’s number, according to the source.

The city officials — a child welfare administrator, three social workers and two nonemergency call-takers — were called Sunday night and told not to come into work Monday.

Examiner Columnist Jonetta Rose Barras contributed to this report.

mneibauer@dcexaminer.com

bmyers@dcexaminer.com

READ all stories on Banita Jacks.

Watch the slideshow as this tragedy unfolds.

Read the Editorial on the Banita Jacks case.

Hear the 911 calls made in the Banita Jacks case on April 30, 2007 and April 27, 2007.