What we know about dead Detroit toddler abandoned by mom

Maintenance worker found 2-year-old decomposing; mom found at psych ward

DETROIT – Aaron Minor was found Wednesday afternoon inside his mother's apartment in Detroit. 

His mother, Deanna Minor, was found that night receiving psychiatric treatment at a facility in Wyandotte. His dad is in prison. 

How long had Aaron been in that apartment alone? How long had he been dead before a maintenance worker smelled an odor, entered the apartment and found the toddler's body tucked into bed?

MORE: Missing mother of toddler found dead in Detroit apartment located at psych ward

Deanna Minor's family says Deanna and Aaron were placed in the apartment by the Coalition on Temporary Shelter, or COTS.

In March, a woman the family described as Deanna's "case worker" and "therapist" sent Deanna's mother an alarming text message saying she believed Deanna was going to harm herself. The family doesn't know that person's name.

"In the last case of emergency you called me, you told me out of concern that maybe you wanted her to go to a psychiatric ward and pick up my grandson to keep him from protective services," the boy's grandmother Dorice Peterson said. "If there was another emergency, why you never contact me to keep this from happening?"

Detroit police are interested in find the person who was helping Deanna Minor.


About the Author:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.