No charges for Detroit mother whose children died in Greektown casino parking garage

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Wayne County prosecutors say they will not charge the mother in the death of her children inside the Greektown Casino Parking Garage in 2025.

Their decision comes more than a year after the tragic deaths of two kids in February of last year. 

The discovery sparked a wave of grief and renewed support from the city of Detroit to invest more in its homeless services.

Big picture view:

On Jan. 28, the Wayne County Prosecutor determined there was insufficient evidence for charges to issue against the mother of the two children that had died. 

The county medical examiner had previously determined the children died of carbon monoxide poisoning rather than freezing. 

Timeline:

On Feb 10, 2025, investigators say the then 29-year-old mother parked her van in the Greektown Casino Parking Garage in Detroit at around 1 a.m. Her vehicle included her 2-year-old daughter Amillah, 9-year-old son Darnell, as well as her two other daughters, ages 4 and 8. 

The woman's mother was also in the van with her then 13-year-old son. 

It was a cold night in Detroit when the mother parked her van in the parking garage. While idle, the engine kept running as the family slept through the night, according to a news release from the prosecutor. It is alleged that the family was living in the van due to being homeless for an unknown period of time.

The next morning, officials say the mother noticed that Darnell’s lips were blue and was unresponsive. She then called her friend and told her there was no gas in the vehicle. Later, the friend and a man arrived at the garage where the man approached the van with a gas can shortly before noon.

Twenty minutes later, the black sedan returned and the man went to work on the van's engine. The mother left the van, pulled Darnell out, and dragged him into the back seat of the sedan. 

The mother and child were dropped off at Children’s Hospital where Darnell died, the prosecutor's office said. 

The man and friend were then called back to the van by the grandmother, who said Amillah was not breathing and her lips were blue. The couple returned and took the grandmother, Amillah, her 13-year-old son, and her 4 and 8-year-old granddaughters back to the hospital. 

Amillah was pronounced dead at 12:28 p.m. It was assumed the engine turned off after running out of gas, causing the temperature to drop while the family was in the van sleeping.

A month later, on March 5, the Wayne County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on the two children where they determined the children's cause of death was carbon monoxide toxicity.

The manner of death was determined to be accidental.

The Evidence

Investigators looked over evidence considered in the case that included: 

• Hours of surveillance video of the van in the Greektown Parking Garage for February 8, 9, and 10, 2025.
• Interviews with Greektown Casino personnel
• Witness interviews
• Forensic interviews with the surviving children
• Police interviews with the mother
• Interviews the mother gave to various news outlets
• Police interviews with the grandmother
• Phone records
• Photographs of the outside of the van as it was found in the parking garage
• Photos of the interior of the van document feces and urine in the van along with bags of trash and children’s clothing scattered throughout the van
• Autopsy and Findings.
• Medical, school, and other agency records for the children
• Reports after forensic testing of the van.

"There were many public pronouncements by police and elected officials in this case," said prosecutor Kym Worthy. "It is important to note that the warrant review was necessary in this case and solely within our purview. Those statements in some respects hampered our process."

Related

article

Greektown death: 2 children found dead in a parked van near Hollywood Casino

Investigators are shaken by the unimaginable tragedy that one phone call could have prevented. Two children were frozen to death inside a van parked at Hollywood Casino at Greektown.

What they're saying:

All the evidence was looked over and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office determined that there was insufficient evidence for charges to issue against the mother.

"However, we remain very concerned about the welfare of the remaining living children," Worthy said. "While we, like many others, were heartened about the number of people and organizations that stepped in to help this family, we hope that those efforts will continue, and that those who are truly empowered to protect these children will continue to do so diligently."