Court officials carrying out an eviction notice in the apartment complex just east of downtown Detroit didn’t find the apartment;s residents present when they came to serve the notice on the three-bedroom home. Neighbors were able to tell officials where the woman was staying.
But while in the apartment, they found what was initially reported to be the body of a woman in the freezer. The information was later corrected to be the body of a boy, about 11-years-old, and the body of a girl, about 14-years-old. They were both wrapped inside a plastic bag.
Chief James Craig said, “One of the community members here … approached our officers and advised that they knew where the parent was located.” The mother, who has not been identified, was found in a neighboring apartment. Two of the mother’s other children, ages 11 and 17, were found in a neighbor’s home and placed in protective custody. The mother was arrested.
Tori Childs, a neighbor, and a friend of the mother, said she had not seen the two dead children in about a year. “I haven’t seen them since they were playing with my step-kids,” Childs said.
Carrie McDonald, Childs’ mother who also lives in the housing complex, said she had spoken on the phone with on Tuesday morning with the 36-year-old mother of the dead children.
“She told me this morning, ‘Ms. Carrie, if you don’t never see me again just know that I love you,'” McDonald said. “I love her. The mother is a beautiful person. She was just going through some things.”
McDonald said the children were being home schooled because the mother thought “something was going to happen to them.” The family had lived in the complex for about 10 years. The woman was unemployed and had been having money problems, as well as getting behind in her rent, according to neighbors.
Court papers showed that a judgment had been filed against the woman for $2,206 owed to the complex. At this time, investigators are preparing information to present to the Wayne County prosecutor’s office for charges against the woman. It is not known if she has retained an attorney.
