Darnell Currie Jr., 9, and Amillah Currie, 2 Obituary and Death – Two Children Tragically Lost to Hypothermia After Mother’s Pleas for Help Go Unanswered

Detroit, Michigan – The heartbreaking deaths of two young children, Darnell Currie Jr., aged 9, and Amillah Currie, aged 2, have shocked the Detroit community. The two children were found dead in the early hours of Monday morning after their mother, Tateona Williams, parked their van in the cold, dimly-lit garage of the Hollywood Casino Hotel, unaware that the situation would soon turn into a tragedy. Their deaths, which appear to be the result of hypothermia, have left their mother devastated, sparking widespread concern over the system’s failure to help vulnerable families like hers.

For weeks leading up to this event, Williams had been desperately seeking shelter for her family. As a certified nursing assistant and medical assistant, Williams understood the importance of keeping her children warm and safe, but with no home of her own, her options were limited. She turned to shelters and community organizations in hopes of finding help, but her cries went unanswered. The family, forced to survive in a van, found themselves trapped in the bitter cold, eventually succumbing to the harsh elements.

At around 1:00 AM on Monday, Williams parked her van on the ninth floor of the Hollywood Casino Hotel garage. The temperature outside was chilling, plummeting to just 12 degrees Fahrenheit. The van had run out of gas, depriving the family of the heat that they so desperately needed. When Williams attempted to wake her children for school, she discovered that Darnell, her oldest child, was not responsive. In a panic, she called a friend for help, who rushed to assist and took the mother and child to Children’s Hospital. During this distressing journey, Williams received a phone call from her mother, who informed her that Amillah, the 2-year-old, had also stopped breathing. Both children were later pronounced dead from apparent hypothermia.

As Williams reflected on the tragic loss, her voice cracked with emotion as she expressed her deep frustration and sorrow. “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 the CAM list for the longest,” she said in a voice laden with pain. “Everybody now wants to help after I lost two kids? I’ve been asking for help.” Her cries for assistance had gone unanswered for far too long, with no one offering the support her family needed to survive the harsh winter conditions.

Tateona Williams’ story is a tragic example of a broken system that failed to meet the needs of one of its most vulnerable families. Despite her repeated attempts to secure shelter and aid for her children, she was left to fend for herself in a situation that escalated to an unimaginable loss. In her desperation, Williams tried to perform CPR on her son in an effort to save him, but ultimately, her attempts proved futile.

This devastating incident has not only left a family shattered but has also sparked outrage among the local community and beyond. There is widespread grief over the loss of these innocent children and growing concerns about how the system failed them. Many are asking how such a tragedy could have been avoided, and how it is possible that a mother’s repeated requests for help were ignored until it was too late.

As the community mourns the loss of Darnell and Amillah, there are growing calls for accountability and reform in how vulnerable families are treated by shelters, social services, and local organizations. It is clear that the system’s lack of response to Williams’ desperate situation ultimately led to the tragic deaths of two young children, whose lives were cut short by circumstances that might have been preventable with timely intervention.