A family experiencing homelessness is grieving after two children tragically died of apparent hypothermia in a Detroit casino parking garage on Monday where they were sleeping in a van.
The 2-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy were not breathing when their mother Tateona Williams said she tried waking them up for school on Monday.
Police said Williams, her mother and her five children were sleeping in their van at the parking garage at Hollywood Casino Hotel in Greektown when the van ran out of gas.
According to the National Weather Service, the nighttime temperatures in Detroit on Monday were in the high teens.
At some point, Williams said she realized her 9-year-old was not breathing.
"Yesterday, it was like a normal day… I woke them up to wake them up for school, my son wasn’t moving. And I kept saying ‘Fatty, please get up. Please, please for me, just get up. Don’t do this to me,’” Williams said.
Williams said she’s a certified nursing assistant and medical assistant and tried to perform CPR on her son.
“I’ve been working there since I was 17. I tried to give him CPR and I was giving him CPR. I just kept saying ‘Fatty, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me, please,” Williams said.
Watch the full interview with Tateona Williams in the video player below:
While a friend took her son to the hospital, Williams' mother called her to say her 2-year-old was also unresponsive. The friend returned to te parking garage to take the little girl to the hospital as well.
"I lost the one who made me a mother (and) I lost a 2-year-old. I'm dying inside. It hurts," Williams told Scripps News Group Reporter Darren Cunningham. "I feel like my heart is breaking, and I have two more kids to live for."
Both kids were pronounced dead at the hospital.
"She didn't even get to live her life. She didn't even get to do anything. She lost her life because I had to sleep in the car,” Williams said. “I regret having to sleep out there so bad. I tell them I'm sorry, but I tried. I tried to keep hotels, I tried to pay people to stay there, it wasn’t working for me.”
Three other children were treated and evaluated at the hospital. They are expected to be OK.
Both Williams and the city said she reached out for help with housing, but a solution was not found.
Watch: Detroit mayor and police chief speak after 2 kids found dead inside vehicle in a parking garage
Williams said she's been homeless for about three months, and she was set to start a new job on Wednesday.
"I asked everybody for help. I called out of state, I called cities I didn't know, I called cities people asked me to call. I even asked Detroit — I've been on CAM list for the longest," Williams said. "Everybody now wants to help after I lost two kids? I've been asked for help."
In emergency situations, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said outreach workers are sent out. He said that the family never called back, and as far as they know, no one reached back out to the family to see if their situation was resolved.
"It took my two kids to die for y'all to help me? It just doesn't work like that," Williams said. "Everybody got this picture when I know in my heart, everybody who's around me knows I loved those kids more than I loved myself."
Duggan and other officials are conducting a widespread investigation after the deaths, with the goal of creating actionable plans to address gaps in homelessness services across the city.
"It hurts losing two kids in one night. I don't wish this on anybody. And if you can get help, please go get help because I don't want anyone else to go through what I'm feeling," Williams said.
New McFall Brothers Funeral Home said it’s covering the funeral and burial costs for her young children.
Anyone who is interested in helping Williams and her family can contact the organization Detroit Power Detroit Community Outreach at (313) 444-1283. The organization’s address is 19403 W. Chicago Street.
