Two Detroit children who died in a van during below-freezing temperatures were victims of carbon monoxide poisoning, authorities said on Wednesday.

Darnell Currie Jr., 9, and A´millah Currie, 2, died after spending the night inside their family vehicle in a casino garage on February 10 as their mom had no where else to go. 

They were among five children and two adults inside the van.

The cause of death was carbon monoxide toxicity while the manner of death was accident, said Dr. LokMan Sung, the Wayne County medical examiner.

The deaths caused Detroit officials to try to learn if the family had fallen through cracks in social services.

The children's mother had called the city on November 25 to say their temporary housing was about to end, but no one followed up and she didn't call back, Mayor Mike Duggan said.

Homeless outreach teams, meanwhile, were not looking in cars for people who needed shelter, he said. 

'For whatever reason, this wasn't deemed an emergency that caused an outreach worker to visit the family... As far as we've been able to determine so far, the family never called back again for service,' Duggan explained.











Darnell Currie Jr., 9, and and his two-year-old sister A´millah, died from carbon monoxide and not exposure to the cold weather





Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said one of the changes being made will see city outreach staff now visit families who call to report an imminent loss of housing





The family had been living in a van for a couple of months, and had parked it on the ninth floor of a casino parking lot when it ran out of gas

'And as far as we've been able to tell, our homeless staff never proactively reached out to say, "What happened with your situation? Was it resolved?"' the mayor added. 

The family had been living out of the vehicle for two to three months and sometimes chose to park at casinos for safety and access to restrooms.

The van stopped running overnight and couldn't produce heat while the outside temperature was under 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-6.6 degrees Celsius).

Duggan announced policy changes last week, including in-person visits with families reporting an imminent loss of housing, a 24-hour hotline and police checks of parked cars.

'This is something that's going to be hard to accept for a long time, that we had the beds in place,' Duggan said of 1,400 available shelter beds. 'This cannot ever happen again,' he said.

'The shortest way for somebody in an emergency is go to a police precinct. They will navigate the process and get you to a shelter,' Duggan explained. 

One of the changes being made will see city outreach staff now visit families who call to report an imminent loss of housing.

'When there are emergency calls, even if someone is still housed with minor children, there will be an onsite visit from an outreach worker,' Duggan told reporters. 




The children's mother Tateona Williams looked pleased on Wednesday as she was gifted a rent-free apartment for the year thanks to a homeless charity





Williams looked as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders without having to worry about rent for a year





Williams joined hands with city officials before moving into her new apartment





Tateona Williams, the mother of A'millah Currie, 2, and Darnell Currie, Jr., gets emotional with other siblings before the start of the funeral services at Triumph Church last month





Pastor Solomon Kinloch speaks during the eulogy for A'millah Currie, 2, and Darnell Currie, Jr., WBC247고객센터 during the children's funeral services  Thursday, February 20, in Detroit

'You cannot, when you're just dealing with phone calls, understand how close somebody is to being out.' 

Duggan met the children's mother Tateona Williams before their funeral last month. 

'It was a very emotional and difficult meeting... I told them the entire city shared their pain,' the mayor said. 

Deputy Mayor Melia Howard said a local group has stepped forward to pay rent for a year to house the family.

'It's just important for me to let them know that we're not just here for today. We're going to be with them as long as they need us,' Howard to The Detroit News.