NYPD charity and NY Assembly speaker pick up funeral tab for mom, disabled son found in squalid NYC apartment: ‘They are a godsend'
'NYPD With Arms Wide Open,' a nonprofit co-founded by veteran cop Merrit Riley to help special needs families, footed the food bill, and Heastie paid for the funeral service for Lisa Cotton and her young son, Nazir Milien, who were both found dead in their Wakefield apartment on April 18.
Cotton's 4-year-old daughter Promise was found alive but in poor condition inside the apartment with their corpses and survived alone for two weeks by eating chocolate, law enforcement sources said.
'Merrit and his organization are amazing,' Cotton's sister, Tawana Smith-Tention, who delivered the eulogy at the service, told The Post on Sunday. 'They reached out to us right away and asked us what we needed. They are a godsend. You can tell that they really care.'
Her sister was remembered as a loving mom who struggled to care for her son, who used a wheelchair and required a feeding tube for nourishment — while also having to take care of little Promise.
'My sister needed help to take care of her son, who is disabled. She wasn't getting it,' Smith-Tention said. 'A lot was said about my sister, but by people who didn't know her. She loves her kids and took good care of them. The people who love her don't judge her.'
More than 100 mourners attended the wake for the tragic pair at the Wake-Eden Community Baptist Church, not far from the East 231st Street walk-up where Cotton and her children lived.
'My mother loved her children. She loved Promise. She loved Nazir. She would always try to do something with them, but, you know, it's really sad to see her go,' said Cotton's 17-year-old daughter Nevaeh, who did not live in the apartment. 'But I'm just glad that she went away peacefully.'
Born in St. Kitts, Cotton, 38, and her older brother moved to the US to live with their father, and grew up in the Big Apple, eventually graduating from John F. Kennedy High School.
Nazir was born in 2017, and she doted over the boy, her family said — until their tragic ends.
'It feels surreal to be here today,' her brother, Akim Cotton, said during the service. 'My heart is aching for loss. It's beyond words. It's deeply beyond words. But I find comfort in the belief that they're at peace.'
Riley said he was moved by the tragic story and offered the nonprofit's help to the grieving family.
The veteran cop, who has a special needs son, Aidan, founded With Arms Wide Open with his partner, retired NYPD detective Danny Sprague, to help other police families with similar challenges.
'We started our foundation about 10 years ago to help police officers with kids with special needs, or terminal illness, with anything not covered by insurance,' Riley told The Post.
He said he was inspired by the goodwill of his precinct, which paid for a trip for him, his son and his son's mom to go to the Dominican Republic — and the idea struck him.
'I wanted to do something to show my appreciation, and we started this,' he said.
'Over the years, we've helped quite a few police officer families. Every once in a while, when we hear a story outside of the police department, you wouldn't be human if you didn't help, if your heart didn't hurt over hearing this story,' Riley added. 'I had to do something.'
Heastie's office is covering the cost of the funeral and cremation services for the pair and the church provided use of its space and musicians for free, Pastor Frank Williams told The Post.
Cotton's horrific death was one of seven cases profiled by The Post in a report of children who died under the supervision of the city Administration for Children's Services — case workers knocked on the door and walked away one day before the grisly discovery, leaving Promise alone inside.
Investigators believe Cotton, who suffered from asthma, may have died from cardiac arrest, while her son, who was born prematurely and had a feeding tube, may have starved to death, according to sources.
Daisy Griffin, who grew up on Qincey Street in Brooklyn with Cotton, said at Sunday's service that her friends and relatives still want answers about what went wrong.
'I just want to know what really happened to her,' Griffin said. 'It's like everybody's keeping stuff secret and it's sad, because the family don't even know what happened to her, not even her daughter.
'We want to know what really happened so it could be laid to rest,' she added.
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