Detroit Family Gifted A Home After 2 Children Die While Sleeping In Van
A Detroit family was gifted a new home after two of their children died from the cold when the van they were living in ran out of gas.
'It took my two kids to die for y'all to help me,' Tateona Williams, the mother of the kids, told WXYZ a few weeks ago. 'It just don't work like that. It hurt losing two kids in one night. 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.'
Williams received the home Wednesday from the City of Detroit and Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, an organization that provides food, shelter and services to homeless people. The organization will regularly check in to help Williams 'create a long-term housing plan,' the organization told NBC News. In three months, Williams has to transfer the home's utilities in her name.
'DRMM will step in to help if she struggles, but we expect responsibility and accountability to build toward her independence,' the organization said, according to NBC News.
On Feb. 10, Williams, who was living in a van parked in a casino parking lot with her four kids, noticed her 9-year-old son wasn't breathing. Williams called a friend, who took Williams and her son to the hospital. While they were at the hospital, the children's grandmother called Williams to say that her 2-year-old daughter was also not breathing.
Amillah Currie and Darnell Currie Jr. were pronounced dead at the hospital. It is believed they froze to death.
'I lost the one who made me a mother,' Williams told WXYZ a few weeks ago. 'I lost a 2-year-old. ... My heart is breaking and I have two more kids to live for.'
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a Feb. 11 news conference that the deaths have to make the city 'rethink everything' they are doing.
Duggan said Williams and her family reached out to Detroit's homeless response team at least three times with the latest on Nov. 25. Duggan said 'no resolution was reached' after the family asked for help. He added that the response team never proactively reached back out again either.
'We have to make sure that we do everything possible to make sure this doesn't happen again,' Duggan said.
In a news conference on Thursday, Duggan presented a homelessness report and said the city set up an immediate shelter system in December, but Williams and her family didn't know about it because no one on the outreach team followed up with her after her November call. In his presentation, Duggan introduced a seven-point plan to improve the city's homelessness response, including giving special attention to finding families in vehicles and requiring site visits for all families with minor children.
Homeless families in Detroit waited an average of 133 days in December to be placed in a shelter, according to data from the Coordinated Assessment Model.
Man Crushed As Bulldozer Cleared Homeless Camp Ahead Of MLK Day Event
Judge Blocks Further Sweeps Of New Orleans Homeless Camp Ahead Of Taylor Swift Concerts
Gavin Newsom Issues Executive Order On Removal Of Homeless Encampments
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
From a 'day of love' to 'if they spit, we will hit': Trump's about-face on violence against police
President Donald Trump has promised swift retribution for any violence against law enforcement by protesters in Los Angeles. 'IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before,' he wrote on his social media platform after making a similar statement a day earlier to reporters. 'Such disrespect will not be tolerated!' It is an about-face for the president. On Jan. 6, 2021, Peter Stager assaulted an officer with a flagpole during the riot on the U.S. Capitol. Another, Daniel 'D.J.' Rodriguez, drove a stun gun into the neck of a Capitol police officer and pleaded guilty to the crime. And a third, Julian Khater, pepper-sprayed Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick in the face. Sicknick later died. Trump pardoned them all. Trump's tolerance for violence against law enforcement during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is facing renewed scrutiny in the wake of his remarks and actions in Los Angeles, where his administration is taking a hard line against protesters. He federalized thousands of National Guard members and sent 700 U.S. Marines to the country's second-largest city — against the wishes of state and local officials — after protesters blocked immigration enforcement actions. It's a sea change from how Trump treated the Jan. 6 riot, when his supporters attacked the Capitol in an attempt to block Congress' certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election win. In an address Tuesday evening about events in his state, California Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the disparity. 'By the way, Trump, he's not opposed to lawlessness and violence, as long as it serves him. What more evidence do we need than Jan. 6?' Newsom said. Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol police officer who was serving in the Capitol during the attack, told NBC News that he sees Trump's actions then and now as hypocritical. 'Donald Trump is OK with violence, as long as it's done in his name. That's the message that he's sending right now,' Dunn said. 'That's why he pardoned the people on Jan. 6: They did it in his name … what about the officers on Jan. 6? Just put an asterisk by those officers and say, 'Not them. They stopped Donald Trump from succeeding.'' The White House says Trump is fulfilling his mandate. 'President Trump was elected to secure the border, equip federal officials with the tools to execute this plan, and restore law and order. This also underscores the need to pass the OBBB, which would provide record funding and resources to those on the front lines in Los Angeles,' White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement, referring to Trump's push for his 'One big beautiful bill,' the legislative vehicle for his agenda currently before Congress. On Wednesday, NBC News also asked Attorney General Pam Bondi about how the Trump administration is handling California versus Jan. 6, 2021. 'Well, this is very different,' she said. 'These are people out there hurting people in California right now. This is ongoing. No longer. We're going to protect them. We're going to do everything we can to prosecute violent criminals in California. California is burning. These people are waving Mexican flags, yet they don't want anyone to go back to Mexico. They're burning American flags. This is the United States of America, and we're going to protect Americans. We're going to protect all citizens out there.' During the riot at the Capitol, no National Guard help arrived for hours, despite pleas from those inside the building. Then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller testified before a House panel that Trump never gave a formal deployment order, and other testimony described then-Vice President Mike Pence taking the lead in attempting to get the National Guard out to help control the mob. Meanwhile, rioters violently broke through barriers, smashed windows, brutalized officers and chanted threats to Pence. In all, at least 140 police officers were injured. Trump later called it 'a day of love' and has referred to the rioters as 'hostages,' 'warriors' and 'victims.' 'What they've done to some people that are so innocent, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,' Trump said to former President Joe Biden at last year's first presidential debate, referring to the rioters. 'What you have done, how you've destroyed the lives of so many people. Michael Fanone, a former D.C. police officer who was attacked by Rodriguez on Jan. 6, took issue with Trump's posture in California. Fanone called the president 'a hypocrite,' and 'a liar.' 'Had those people storming the Capitol been illegal f--- immigrants or Black people or any other group that … his base found to be displeasing, then they would have said 'open fire,'' Fanone said in an interview. The Los Angeles clashes began Friday as federal immigration agents attempted to carry out arrests in the city. Some protesters tried to stop vehicles carrying detained immigrants and the confrontations soon turned violent, with officers using pepper spray and batons. By Sunday, National Guard troops, outfitted with heavy military equipment, moved into downtown Los Angeles. Some demonstrators pelted law enforcement vehicles with rocks and debris, and set numerous vehicles on fire. Dozens of people were arrested over the weekend, and the L.A. Police Department reported five officers suffering minor injuries and two others treated and released from the hospital in recent days. By Monday, Trump had deployed the U.S. Marines into the state. At a news conference on Tuesday, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., both brought up comparisons to Jan. 6. 'We begged the President of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,' Pelosi said. 'That day he didn't do it. He forgave those people.' Gomez spoke of the furor with which the events unfolded that day. 'There was 50,000 people outside,' Gomez said. 'They were scaling the walls, scaling the walls. They were bashing in, breaking in, with members of Congress, members of Congress, trapped in the gallery, including myself, including a lot of the people here.' Earlier this year, Trump issued more than 1,500 pardons or commutations for the Jan. 6 rioters on his first day in office. Among the crimes Trump dissolved was that of Stager, a 44-year-old truck driver from Arkansas who was sentenced to four years in prison for the flagpole assault. According to prosecutors, Stager was caught on a Jan. 6 video saying, 'Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy, that is the only remedy they get.' Dunn, the former U.S. Capitol police officer, noted that the same Republicans who are in lockstep with Trump at this moment in California are the same ones who have refused to display a plaque commemorating those who died and were injured on Jan. 6. 'What about the blue from Jan. 6th? They don't even want to put the plaque up! Back the blue that way then,' Dunn added. 'It's hypocritical and they're aware that it's all about appeasing their base and appeasing the leader of their party, which is Donald Trump.' This article was originally published on
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Stephen Miller Threatened ICE Leaders With a Furious Ultimatum Over Arrest Targets
An irate Stephen Miller threatened senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials with termination unless their offices upped their game and started detaining at least 3,000 migrants a day. The White House deputy chief of staff also warned that leaders of field offices ranking in the bottom 10 percent for migrant arrests were at risk of being fired, NBC News reports, citing unnamed sources. The outbursts from Miller, viewed as the architect behind many of President Donald Trump's most hardline immigration policies, came during a mid-May meeting with ICE officials. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also present, though was reportedly in a calmer mood. Soon after Miller issued his threat, ICE began ramping up its efforts to detain undocumented migrants across the U.S. The plan, dubbed 'Operation At Large,' involved thousands of federal law enforcement officers and special forces, many of whom don't typically assist with immigration, being pulled in to help ICE round up migrants accused of being in the country illegally. The operation has also called for the deployment of about 21,000 National Guard troops, as well as 250 IRS agents who could use tax data to track down immigrants. Trump's push to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history is reportedly sparking friction among federal agencies. FBI agents, who normally steer clear of immigration enforcement and administrative removal orders, are increasingly being tasked with helping ICE arrest undocumented migrants. Teams within the Justice Department working on unrelated matters have also been disbanded and reassigned to focus on immigration-related cases. Federal agencies' intense preoccupation with detaining migrants that is now influencing whether a case is prosecuted at all. In one instance, a U.S. attorney's office dropped a potential federal prosecution involving a dangerous suspect simply because there wasn't a clear immigration angle. The office passed the case to state prosecutors instead. 'Immigration status is now question No. 1 in terms of charging decisions,' an assistant U.S. attorney told NBC News. 'Is this person a documented immigrant? Is this person an undocumented immigrant? Is this person a citizen? Are they somehow deportable? What is their immigration status? And the answer to that question is now largely driving our charging decisions.' In response to reports of Miller's outburst, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: 'Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump's and the American people's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe.' The White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from the Daily Beast.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sean "Diddy" Combs Trial: Prosecution Seeks Removal of Juror in Case
Originally appeared on E! Online The prosecution is raising its concerns. As day 21 of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex tracking trial began, assistant U.S. attorney Maurene Comey shared June 11 that her team is seeking to remove one of the 12 members of the jury, according to NBC News reporters in the courtroom. 'We were very reluctant to put in this letter,' she told Judge Arun Subramanian before the jury entered the New York City courtroom. 'It appeared to be a lack of candor with the court that raises serious issues with us.' The lead prosecutor added, 'We did not want to do this. We were compelled to do that.' Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro—who said that Juror No. 6 is among the panel's Black members—asked for one or two days to 'respond in writing' and 'go over case law.' The conversation comes after concerns about the juror were first brought forward yesterday by the prosecution in a sealed conversation with the judge. However, in the partial transcript obtained by NBC News, Shapiro said the defense opposed removing the juror and wanted the 'opportunity to be heard' before any decisions were made. More from E! Online 1000-Lb Sisters: Tammy Slaton Unveils Transformation After Skin Removal Surgery Gilligan's Island Star Tina Louise Makes Rare Public Outing at 91 Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau's Daughter Audrey Welcomes First Baby With Fiancé Judge Subramanian said today that he will 'reserve on handling logistics' about the juror—who also stayed the full duration of day 20—until a decision is made. With the jury seated, Combs' ex-girlfriend—who is going by 'Jane' during the trial and was identified as 'Victim-2' in the indictment—returned for her second day of cross-examination. The witness has continued to testify to the alleged emotional, physical and financial abuse she suffered during their relationship. She said that participating in 'hotel nights,' details of which are nearly identical to the 'freak offs' his ex recalled in her testimony, felt like a responsibility since she was financially dependent on him. With Combs paying her rent since April 2023, Jane admitted that she felt resentful after being 'introduced' to a lifestyle that was 'built under a lot of emotional manipulation and pressure.' 'I was already so hooked from the beginning,' she testified June 10. 'I fell in love with somebody who I didn't understand the terms and conditions of what our relationship would be like.' She also testified that Combs had physically assaulted her during arguments, including in one instance where she accused him of kicking and punching her after learning that he was seeing another woman. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, as well as transportation to engage in prostitution. For more live updates from Diddy's trial, keep reading. (E! News and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.) Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Has Heated Exchange With Defense Team During Cross-ExaminationSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says She Wondered What Was 'Driving Him' SexuallySean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Mentions Koby Bryant, Shaquille O'Neil and Michael Jordan During TestimonySean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says Mogul's Chief of Staff 'Influenced a Great Deal' of Their RomanceJudge Denies Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Defense Team's Second Motion for a MistrialSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Details Hourslong 2024 BeatingSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says Attack By Rapper Left Her 'Golfball-sized' WeltsSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Details Homeland Security Raid at Her HomeSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says He Threatened To Release Sex TapesSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says She Fainted After Reading Cassie Ventura's LawsuitSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says She Threw Up 3 Times During 'Hotel Night' Without DrugsSean 'Diddy' Combs' Legal Team Makes Second Request For MistrialSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says He Is Still Paying Her RentSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Testifies About Physical Toll of 'Hotel Nights'Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says He Surprised Her With an Escort On Her BirthdaySean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Details Alleged Birthday 'Hotel Night' Session in Emotional TestimonySean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says Longest 'Hotel Night' Lasted Over Three DaysSean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says He Didn't Want to Use Protection During 'Hotel Nights'Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Says Her First 'Freak Off' Opened 'Pandora's Box'Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Ex Accuses Him of Financially Threatening HerAlleged Victim "Jane" Says Sean "Diddy" Combs Made Her Have Sex With Multiple Men During "Hotel Nights"Judge Threatens to Throw Sean "Diddy" Combs Out of the CourtroomCassie Ventura's Friend Accused Sean 'Diddy' Combs of Dangling Her Off Balcony in $10 Million LawsuitSean 'Diddy' Combs Accused of Dangling Cassie Ventura's Friend From 17th Floor Balcony For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
