Detroit To Mourn Kids Who Likely Froze To Death in Casino Parking Garage

Posted on: February 16, 2025, 11:15h. 

Last updated on: February 21, 2025, 06:56h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

• Funerals to be held
• Two kids died after being in cold van
• Officials continue to review incident
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Funeral services will be held later this week for the two children who apparently froze to death in a Detroit casino garage.

The kids and other family members were sleeping in a van parked on the ninth floor of the Hollywood Casino at Greektown parking garage last week. The engine stopped working during the night and the van got very cold.

A nine-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl stopped breathing. Both were taken to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan by a family friend. They were pronounced dead at the hospital.

Even the three surviving children in the van required hospital treatment.

Services for the two kids will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Detroit’s Triumph Church. New McFall Brothers Funeral Home will donate their services.

As the community mourns this heartbreaking loss, the overwhelming outpouring of love and support deeply touches the family. At this time, they kindly request privacy as they navigate this unimaginable grief,” the funeral home said in a recent statement.

The incident began after the family got evicted from a residence. The mother, her four children, their grandmother, and the grandmother’s child began living in the van, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Months before the tragedy, the 29-year-old woman contacted Detroit’s homeless response team in November. She also contacted the city’s homeless team two times before November. No arrangements were made to get the family into housing or even a shelter. The woman also contacted numerous shelters, but staff kept telling the mother that no room was available.

Detroit Deputy Mayor Melia Howard said city officials are now working to get the family into housing.

We are hopeful that we will have them settled into a safe and comfortable home by this weekend,” Howard said in a statement that was released on Thursday.

City Reviewing Incident

Detroit officials also are reviewing what took place and will try to avoid this kind of situation from reoccurring.

A report is expected by the end of the month

But the tragedy has gotten widespread attention, has led to outrage, and even has become an issue in the city’s mayoralty race.

Candidate Offers Solutions

One person running for mayor, Saunteel Jenkins, recently wrote on the BridgeDetroit website, “I know we’re all asking, ‘How did this happen?’ Now is not the time for placing blame; it’s the time to find solutions together.”

That mom moved from casino garage to casino garage while living in the car for months to keep her five children safe. They reached out three times to the city of Detroit for help and there were no solutions offered. That is unacceptable on every level,” Jenkins said.

There are many bad practices. She points out Detroit’s telephone hotline for the homeless shuts down at 6 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends only operates for three hours. “We should immediately adopt a 24/7 hotline during dangerous winter months,” Jenkins said.

But she also cautions there simply “aren’t enough beds most nights to shelter one person, let alone a family of six.”

“A mother of five should not have to make the ungodly choice of a shelter bed for one night (if available) or having enough gas to sleep overnight in a parking garage in the dead of winter,” Jenkins said.

Among the steps Jenkins says that can be taken are:

• Hire more outreach workers to guide those without housing to shelters and services.
• Set up more beds for homeless families and provide more services for those with emotional illness.
• More temporary housing needs to open so families can remain together and children can go to school until the household finds a permanent home.
• More affordable housing is needed in the long term, too.

My heart breaks for this mother and the trauma she has faced,” Jenkins said. “Let’s make sure she isn’t further traumatized by a continued lack of support and services.”