Neighbors react to drowning of mother, baby in Waterford Township
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Detroit (WWJ) — A Waterford Township, Michigan, community is still in shock after the tragic death of their neighbor and her 2-month-old son.
Police say the two drowned in a bathtub in their apartment just off Cooley Lake Road.
“Oh, I was heartbroken, heartbroken; she didn’t do that,” said resident Laurie Medaris.
People in the Whispering Woods Apartments still have more questions than answers after the sudden death of one of their neighbors, Desiree Wheeler. Laurie Medaris says their community is like a family and that Wheeler loved her children.
“She did everything with her kids, everything. She was always smiling, she was always happy,” said Medaris.
Waterford Township police and fire were called to the apartment complex around 10:30 p.m. on Friday. That’s when they found the 36-year-old single mother of three had drowned in a bathtub with her 2-month-old son.
“Her oldest is going to have to live with this for the rest of his life, I think the detectives need to do more research,” said Medaris.
Wheeler’s next-door neighbor, Sue Carey, saw Wheeler and two of her children hours before police showed up that night.
“Her and the 13-year-old and the baby came out, and she said, ‘Hey, neighbor.’ I said, ‘Hey, neighbor.’ I said, ‘How the baby doing?’ She said, ‘Good, fine,’ and they went in, and that was the last of her that we knew,” said Carey.
Carey says she saw police rush the mother and the baby out of the home, along with the Wheeler’s 13-year-old child, who she says was in shock.
“He couldn’t really mumble words to tell us what had happened and went on so,” said Carey.
She says it was when her family showed up later that night that they learned Wheeler and her baby did not make it.
“Really gut-wrenching to hear her family cry, and it just plays over and over in my head,” said Carey.
CBS News Detroit reached out to the Waterford Township Police Department and the fire department that responded on Friday. While no new information has been released on this investigation, police say they are awaiting toxicology results.
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