Two Children Freeze to Death in Detroit Casino Parking Garage

Posted on: February 11, 2025, 08:41h. 

Last updated on: February 11, 2025, 10:34h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Two children apparently froze to death while sleeping in a parked vehicle outside a Detroit casino
  • Police say the children’s family is homeless and was living in the van

Two children reportedly froze to death while sleeping in a parked van in a Detroit casino parking lot after the van they were in ran out of gas.

Detroit casino Hollywood Greektown
The entrance to the self-parking garage at Hollywood Casino at Greektown in Detroit. The garage is where two kids froze to death, Detroit police say. (Image: Google Maps)

The Detroit Police Department reports that a van drove into the Hollywood Casino at Greektown parking garage around 1 A.M. local time early Monday morning. The vehicle was occupied by two women — a mother and her adult daughter — and the daughter’s five children. The family slept as the vehicle ran out of gas.

Sometime around noon, the adult daughter noticed one of her kids wasn’t breathing. Instead of calling 911, she made a call to a family member. Police say when that family member arrived, they pointed out that a second child also wasn’t breathing.

The family member took the two unresponsive children, aged nine and two, to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan roughly a mile and a half away. It was too late, as the children were pronounced dead.

Autopsies are ongoing, but law enforcement told the media they suspect the kids froze to death. Data from the National Weather Service shows it was in the low teens during the overnight hours of Sunday into Monday, February 9-10.

Self-parking at Hollywood Greektown is free for Penn Play rewards members and $10 per day for all others.

Hollywood Casino Not Involved

Police say the family was homeless and living out of their van.

They said they were unsheltered and didn’t have a residence to go to,” said Detroit Police Capt. Nathan Duda. “As a father, I just can’t imagine what the family is feeling. I just wish it wouldn’t have happened.”

The other children, aged 11, nine, and four, were evaluated at a hospital and determined to be stable. They were handed over to Child Protective Services.

The mother of the children has been detained but not yet charged. Police say there isn’t currently any evidence showing that the mother or her mother entered the Hollywood Casino. However, law enforcement continues to review surveillance video.

It appears this is a tragic story of a homeless family failing to utilize the many warming shelters available across the city and not a case of a person leaving his or her children unattended while they gamble inside. Unattended children left outside casinos in parked vehicles remains a major problem in many states.

Help Available

Detroit’s winters are notoriously bad, with frigid temperatures, heavy snow, and ice storms common. For the homeless, the city offers many shelters and resources to keep people warm and safe.

“There’s respite centers and relief centers all across the city,” Duda said. “This was unnecessary. It didn’t have to happen.”

Warming centers provide overnight shelter, two meals, a shower, and sleeping accommodations. Anyone can utilize the service but must first register with the Coordinated Assessment Model (CAM). For more information, visit this website or call CAM at 313-305-0311.

The Mayo Clinic explains that hypothermia begins when the body’s core temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius). In hypothermia, the body loses heat faster than it can produce it, which leads to the heart, nervous system, and critical organs to stop operating as they should.

Young children and older people are at higher risk for hypothermia.