Two homeless children died of cold in US while sleeping in van

In a shocking tragedy in Detroit, Michigan, two children froze to death in a parking lot where homeless people were sheltering from the cold, US media reported. The incident has sparked a wave of sympathy for the victims and anger over the rise in homelessness in the US.

Tateona Williams has been living in a van with her four children for the last three months.

This week, she woke up to find two of her children, ages 9 and 2, unresponsive. They were later pronounced dead from what appeared to be hypothermia. The family’s van ran out of gas overnight in below-freezing temperatures.

“I lost the one who made me a mother. And I lost a 2-year-old,” Williams said through tears. “I’m dying inside. It hurts. It feels like my heart is breaking. But I have two more kids to live for.”

It’s been a long journey for Williams, with an even tougher battle ahead.

“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 [in hotels]. It wasn’t working for me,” she said.

Williams said when she woke up, she noticed her 9-year-old son was not breathing.

“I tried to give him CPR, I was just giving him CPR and kept saying, ‘Don’t leave me, don’t leave me please,’” she said.

Williams also realized her 2-year-old daughter was unresponsive. Both children were later pronounced dead at the hospital.

“She didn’t even get to live her life, she didn’t even get to do nothing,” Williams said. “She lost her life because I had to sleep in a car.”

Williams is now in a homeless shelter, and her two surviving children are with relatives.

“It took my two kids to die for y’all to help me? It just doesn’t work like that,” she said. “It hurt losing two kids in one night. You know, I don’t wish this on nobody, and if you can get help, please go get help, because I don’t want nobody else to go through what I’m feeling.”

According to WSWS, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan held a press conference to deflect any responsibility from his administration.

The Democratic mayor claimed that Detroit officials have provided adequate resources for the homeless, but poor residents do not know how to access them.

The homeless family has contacted the city's Homeless Response Team at least three times, including in late November 2024, but has not received a response.