Cause Of Death Revealed For 2 Kids Who Died In Detroit Casino Garage

DETROIT — Two children who appeared to have frozen to death while sleeping inside a van that was parked in a Detroit casino garage amid below-freezing temperatures last month actually died from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.

Officials initially believed the two children, ages 2 and 9, died from hypothermia after the van stopped running during the middle of night on Feb. 10 in the Greektown Casino parking garage.

But the autopsy results showed they died from carbon monoxide poisoning, though officials didn't exactly say what went wrong with the van or what caused the carbon monoxide leak.

The temperature in Detroit that night was in the low-teens.

Officials ruled their deaths accidental.

The children, along with two other siblings, their mother and a fifth child and their grandmother, were living inside the van, officials said.

The mom reached out to the city's homeless services multiple times, including as late as last November, and told them she and her five kids had nowhere to live, officials said.

Officials said that conversation fell-thorough and neither the family nor the city followed up after that November call.

"I've been asking for help," the mother told WXYZ shortly after her kids' deaths. "I feel like it wasn't their time. I did everything I was supposed to do."

After an internal investigation showed the mother did reach out and no resolution was met, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has vowed to make changes to the city's homelessness services, including a 7-point plan is as follows:

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.

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