A 24-year-old Michigan woman has been charged with manslaughter on the allegation she was criminally negligent when she allowed her 5-year-old son to wander from their Clinton Township apartment and freeze to death.
Derricka Kenora Fleming was arraigned Wednesday by Magistrate Ryan Zemke in 41B District Court for the incident in which she allegedly put the boy to bed at about 10 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Saravilla Apartment complex near Harper Avenue and 15 Mile Road. He was found several hours later, in the early morning hours of Jan. 23, at a nearby park dressed in an undershirt and underpants. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
A woman called 911 to report a missing child as a male was searching for him, according to a prior report from WDIV-TV (Channel 4, . Officers joined in the search and found the boy in a park with a jungle gym and basketball court at the Clinton Cooperative housing complex next door. First-responders conducted life-saving efforts.