Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office receives warrant request for kids’ deaths in casino garage

Show Caption

• The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office would not release a suspect’s name.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Wednesday that it has received a warrant request in the case of two children who died last month while living in a van.

The two children, 2-year-old A’millah Currie and 9-year-old Darnell Currie Jr., died of carbon monoxide toxicity. The manner of death was deemed an accident, the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office announced last week. Previously, Detroit police have said the children appear to have frozen to death while they slept in the vehicle parked in the structure of the Hollywood Casino in downtown.

In a brief statement issued Wednesday afternoon, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said a suspect’s name would not be released because charges have not been issued. The Prosecutor’s Office said it would not provide additional information until the warrant review process is completed.

The warrant request, which includes police reports, witness statements, forensic reports, photographs and evidence, came from the Detroit Police Department, said Maria Miller, a spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. Police agencies send requests for warrants to the Prosecutor’s Office, after which the office reviews the evidence before making a decision on whether or not to charge a person with a crime, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office website.

In a statement Wednesday, Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said his department has completed its investigation into the deaths and submitted its findings to the Prosecutor’s Office.

“DPD has not requested charges to be filed against any family member of the children,” Bettison said. “As we do with every case, we have simply turned over our investigative file to the Prosecutor’s Office for its review and determination. Any charging decisions will be made solely by the Prosecutor’s Office.”

On Feb. 10, the children’s family was parked in the Hollywood Casino at Greektown when their car stopped running in the middle of the night, officials have previously said. Later that day, Darnell Currie Jr. and A’millah Currie reportedly stopped breathing and died. 

Their family was unhoused and using their car for shelter, authorities have said. The two children were living in the van with their mother, grandmother and three other children. Authorities have not said what went wrong with the van, but have previously said the vehicle either ran out of gas or had a mechanical failure.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office had said the investigation into the cause of the children’s deaths could take several months. Last week, however, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. LokMan Sung certified the cause and manner of death.

The week before, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced a seven-point plan to address gaps in the city’s homeless response system, including extending a housing hotline’s hours to 24 hours and working to identify people living in their vehicles, among other changes.

City officials also outlined Tateona Williams’ interactions with the city and county as she sought help several times, dating back to at least December 2022, when she called seeking pandemic-related help to pay her rent. It had already expired at the time of her call, according to a city review.

She also contacted a city homeless hotline for help with shelter twice in December 2023. The city report found that she was referred to an overflow shelter, a temporary option when other beds are not available. There was no record that she went to the shelter, but officials said if it was a short, one-night stay, there may not be a record.

In 2024, the city’s homeless response system contacted Williams three times from March to May but was unable to reach her, records show. That summer, she called twice to say that her family had temporary housing but she did not know if they could remain there.

Duggan said Williams last reached out Nov. 25, 2024, to say she believed she and her family would soon lose shelter, but the case was not deemed an emergency and a worker was not sent to assess the situation. Instead, the phone operator classified the case as one in which the caller would lose housing within 14 days.

In the weeks after the tragedy, leaders of homeless service agencies have said the way people get into shelter is “broken” and have called for more money and resources to address the need. 

Aross metro Detroit, providers have said services meant to help people facing homelessness get the help they need are stretched thin and underfunded.

Free Press staff writers Andrea May Sahouri, Darcie Moran and Violet Ikonomova contributed to this report.