Mother of Two Kids Who Froze to Death in Casino Garage Repeatedly Sought Help

Posted on: February 12, 2025, 05:08h. 

Last updated on: February 13, 2025, 10:04h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

• Mother contacted city officials and shelter staff
• Family had been living in a van
• Two kids stopped breathing

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A woman now in mourning had consistently tried to get assistance before two of her children froze to death on Monday while sleeping in a van at a Detroit casino garage, authorities said.

With no other place to go, early on Monday, she parked the van on the ninth floor of Michigan’s Hollywood Casino at Greektown parking garage, according to the Detroit Free Press. The vehicle’s engine reportedly stopped working and the van quickly got cold while the kids slept. Two of the children died.

She and her family became homeless and local officials failed to provide a place for them to sleep despite many calls.

Contacted Three Times for Help

Months before this 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.

But in her interactions with the team, “there was no resolution reached on where they would go,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said during a Tuesday news conference.

In November, the mother said they were staying with family, but couldn’t do that much longer.

The crisis team never followed up with the mother and her children.

When the mother contacted various shelters in Detroit, she kept on hearing they were full, according to Detroit Board of Police Commissioners member Tamara Liberty Smith.

“For whatever reason, this wasn’t deemed an emergency,” Duggan said.

Two Kids Stopped Breathing

Two of the kids in the van, a nine-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, stopped breathing after being in the cold van.

Both were taken to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan by a family friend. They were pronounced dead at the hospital.

Autopsies by the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm the causes of death. Detroit police said it appears the kids froze to death, according to local news reports. Temperatures in the early hours of Monday were in the low- to mid-teens.

Even the three surviving children in the van required hospital treatment. They were in stable condition earlier this week.

After getting evicted, the mother, her four children, their grandmother, and the grandmother’s child were living in the van.

The grandmother works at a Popeyes, and the mother was to start working at an auto-related job this week.

The mayor pointed out a family shelter is located a few miles from the Hollywood Casino.

Hollywood Casino officials didn’t provide a statement on the incident. Police were investigating.

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