Police responded to an apartment in Waterford Township around 10:30 p.m. and discovered a 36-year-old mother and her 2-month-old son. Both were pronounced dead at local hospitals after life-saving measures were administered at the scene. Officials stated that the apparent cause of death for both was drowning, but the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released official findings, pending further investigation, including toxicology results.
Neighbors identified the mother as Desiree Wheeler, describing her as a devoted single parent who was always with her three children. One neighbor, Laurie Medaris, expressed shock, stating, "She did everything with her kids, everything. She was always smiling, she was always happy." Another neighbor, Sue Carey, recounted seeing Wheeler and her infant son just hours before the discovery.
"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," Carey told CBS News Detroit. Carey also described witnessing the arrival of emergency responders and the subsequent distress of Wheeler’s teenage son, who was present at the time.
The incident has left the local community in grief, with neighbors expressing their heartbreak over the sudden loss of Wheeler and her infant son.