DETROIT — No charges will be issued against a Detroit mother whose two children died in February of 2025 of carbon monoxide poisoning as the homeless family was sleeping in their car in the Greektown Casino Parking Garage in Detroit.

The then-29-year-old mother, whose name prosecutors did not release because she was not charged, discovered her 9-year-old son Darnell Currie Jr.'s lips were blue and he was unresponsive the morning of Feb. 10, 2025, according to Wayne County prosecutors. The mom, who was without housing at the time, called a friend and told her the van did not have gas and the mom ultimately pulled Darnell out of the car and left the garage with her friend and a man who came with the friend.

They took Darnell to Children's Hospital in Detroit, where he was pronounced dead. The children's grandmother called the friend and man back to the van because 2-year-old A'Millah was not breathing and her lips were blue. They came back and took the grandmother, A'Millah, the grandmother's 13-year-old son and her 4- and 8-year-old granddaughters back to the hospital, where A'Millah died.

The engine of the van had been running all night because of inclement weather, and the children's mother had allegedly been living in the van with four children and her mother, according to prosecutors. The family had been rotating between various casino parking structures to park each night.

Police originally thought the children died of hypothermia, but an autopsy revealed it was carbon monoxide poisoning.

Though the van was inoperable when it was seized by Detroit police after the children's deaths, once a new battery was put in the van and it was turned on, a carbon monoxide leak was detected within minutes, according to the prosecutor's office.

“There were many public pronouncements by police and elected officials in this case. 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. That being said, there will be no criminal charges in this case," Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. "However, we remain very concerned about the welfare of the remaining living children. 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."

Prosecutors said the review of the case took nearly a year because they had trouble obtaining some records.

Each year, as many as 430 people die in the United States from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, and an estimated 50,000 visit an emergency room because of it, the CDC reported.

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan vowed last year to make changes to the city's homelessness services after a review of records confirmed Williams had reached out to Detroit's shelter intake system at least three times for help over several months before her children's deaths, most recently in November 2024.

She first sought shelter in December 2023, though Duggan said it appeared the family did not use the temporary shelter that was offered. Workers from the city's shelter intake system, known as the Coordinated Assessment Model, then tried to contact Currie in March, April and May last year to follow up on her housing situation, but records indicated they didn't reach her.

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