Remove displaylist object created in different class

Hi,
I’m kind of new to as3 and am having an issue with the display list. i have two classes:
videoPlayer(Document class) and videoControls(which is added to the stage by videoPlayer).

videoControls put an object on the stage at some point:

dp = new displayEnd();
dp.name=“dpe”;
addChild(dp);

the issue is that there’s a function in videoPlayer that i want to check for and remove the “dpe” at some later point if it’s on the stage. so in videoPlayer i use:

if (getChildByName(“dpe”)) {
removeChild(getChildByName(“dpe”));
}

any idea why this isn’t working? oh i have:
public var dp;

set in videoControls.