The two children who died in a car at a Detroit casino parking garage last month died from carbon monoxide poisoning, the medical examiner confirmed to 7 News Detroit.
According to the examiner, 2-year-old A’Millah Currie and 9-year-old Darnell Currie, Jr.'s death was carbon monoxide toxicity and the cause of death was ruled accidental.
Watch below: Mother talks after 2 kids died in Detroit casino parking garage
On Feb. 10, their mother, Tateona Williams says she tried waking them up on Monday. Police said Williams, her mother and five children were sleeping at the parking garage at Hollywood Casino Hotel at Greektown.
The family, who is homeless, parked their van in the garage around 1 a.m. and said the van ran out of gas. Around noon, she realized her 9-year-old was not breathing.
"I lost the one who made me a mother (and) I lost a 2-year-old. I'm dying inside. It hurts," Williams told 7 News Detroit reporter Darren Cunningham. "I feel like my heart is breaking, and I have two more kids to live for."
Their father, Darnell Currie Sr., also talked to Darren about his children. He recalls the distressing phone call he says he took from their mother.
Watch below: ‘You didn’t say nothing.’ Father of kids who died in parking garage shares story
"I went to the gym. As soon as I got on a treadmill, she called saying 'can I make it to the hospital right now. They gone,'" said Darnell. "I was hoping it was a sick joke, but it wasn't."
Tateona told us she had been living in her car for three months, along with her four kids, her mother and two teenage siblings.
She says she reached out to Darnell, who's the father of three of her children.
"I asked him, I said 'can you get your kids from me?' I said, 'I need help. You know I'm homeless. I done kept a room this long. I couldn't keep it no more,'" she said.
"All she said was 'can I get 'em?' Can I get 'em, just to get 'em, and can I get 'em because ya'll homeless? That's two different things," said Darnell.
Darnell said he didn't know Tateona was homeless.
"She ain't ever said nothing to me. Nothing. So, all them sob other stories, they can cut all that. No, she did not," he said.
After their deaths, the City of Detroit set out to investigate its homeless response system. Deputy Mayor Melia Howard was tasked with investigating what happened in the tragedy.
Howard said during a news conference, “I’ve had more than 50 phone calls of people offering support for the Williams-Curry family with their homes and making sure that, again, that this never happens.”
At the news conference, Mayor Mike Duggan laid out a timeline of Williams' contact with the city's homeless services.
He said Williams first reached out to CAM, the city’s homeless helpline, in December of 2023 to ask for help. Duggan said Williams let CAM know that she and her children were about to lose housing.
Watch below: Detroit mayor & other officials outline steps to address homelessness
The mayor said the family was offered temporary shelter, but Williams ended up finding other housing. He said the city’s homeless team then reached out to Williams in March, April, and May but got no response from her. In the summer, Williams reached out for help again. She ended up staying with a friend.
On November 25th, as Duggan explains, Williams made her last contact with the city, and the city didn't follow up with her.
“Ms. Williams called the CAM hotline and said, 'Where I have been staying in the summer and the fall, I don’t believe is going to be available. I don’t know where I’m going to go do,'" Duggan explained.
The mayor asked the question the first time, why this wasn’t classified as an emergency."
"But as you look at the records, the time of the call, the 'call take' worker put them in a class of somebody who was still housed but did indicate they expected to be unhoused within 14 days and did not send one of our outreach workers out to assess the situation," Duggan said.
Duggan said the city had setup an emergency shelter on December 16th, however that was never communicated to Williams.
To better respond to people’s needs, the city’s 7-point plan is as follows. A detailed explanation of the plan can be found at the city's website.
1. Require Site Visits for All Families with Minor Children.
2. Give Special Attention to Finding Families in Vehicles.
3. Expand HelpLine to 24 Hours.
4. Double Number of Drop-In Beds.
5. Expand Night Outreach Teams.
6. Continue Successful Use of Police Precincts as Havens for Safety & Referrals.
7. Expand Street Outreach & Education.
Howard said, “If you need assistance, we are really imploring you to reach out so that we can make these connections and ensure that no family ever has to go through this again.”
