Detroit unites to support family after tragic deaths of children in a van
Tragic deaths of children in a van unites Detroit to help the family
The City of Detroit is working to honor the lives of two of its youngest residents who died under tragic circumstances. The move comes as an investigation is underway by Detroit police after the Curry children, just 2 and 9 years old, were believed to have frozen to death as they lived with their mother and siblings in a van.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A city is coming together to help a grieving family after two children froze to death while living inside a van with their mother.
Big picture view:
The City of Detroit is working to honor the lives of two of its youngest residents who died under tragic circumstances.
The move comes as an investigation is underway by Detroit police after the Curry children, just 2 and 9 years old, were believed to have frozen to death as they lived with their mother and siblings in a van.
City leaders are now working to get the family housing as well as paying for funeral expenses.
The city of Detroit has partnered with New McFall Brothers Funeral Home, which is providing details of next week’s funeral.
The public is invited as an entire community waits for answers on how an unthinkable tragedy could take place.
What they're saying:
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Mom of Detroit kids who froze to death said she asked for help from city, children's father
Tateona Williams made sure her kids were well fed, went to school, and were loved. She asked for help multiple times, but instead was turned away.
Tateona Williams says she did everything in her power to keep her kids safe and anyone familiar with her knows the kind of mother she is.
"Everybody who knows me knows that I worship the ground that those kids walked on," he said, tears rolling down her face.
Her children ate right. They went to school. According to her mom, they "didn't want for nothing."
"I had one mistake," she then said.
A day earlier, her cousin Javeina Moore told FOX 2 that her only mistake was having too much pride to ask for help. And yet, Williams had reached out for assistance.
If it wasn't the city that she had phoned, it was her children's father.
Dig deeper:
Williams first discovered one of her kids was not breathing Monday morning.
The van had run out of gas and turned off sometime in the night, leading to lethal temperatures inside the vehicle and the mom's tragic discovery. As a family member transported the child to the hospital, they got a phone call that another kid was also not breathing.
Both the 2-year-old and 9-year-old were pronounced dead at the hospital.
The medical examiner will officially determine the cause of death during an autopsy, but police pointed to freezing temperatures as the primary cause.
What you can do:
As the city works on reforming its own strategy, Williams and her kids are working through the tragedy that is only a few days old.
Her cousin is hoping to help, setting up a GoFundMe.
"And that’s one of the reasons we did set the GoFundMe up so she can have - so she will be able to have housing for herself and the children, her other remaining children," said Javeina Moorer, Williams' cousin.
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Two kids found dead in van at Hollywood Casino at Greektown, Detroit police believe children froze to death
Detroit police said two kids were believed to have frozen death as they were living inside a van at Greektown Casino.