A four-year-old girl was found trapped alive in her own New York home after surviving on just one particular food item.
The girl's mother, 38-year-old Lisa Cotton, was found deceased at their home on Friday (May 2) after Lisa's eldest daughter had gone to the Bronx apartment to check on her family after becoming concerned.
Lisa's father, 71-year-old Hubert Cotton, had received a call from the woman's landlord asking if Lisa had moved out of the property.
"I had been trying to call her for days and she never answered. I figured she didn’t answer me because she didn’t want me to talk to me," he told the New York Post.
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It was Lisa's eldest daughter who made the tragic discovery, as eight-year old Nazir Millien and his mother Lisa were declared dead at the scene by paramedics.
"When she came in, [Nazir] was slumped over," Cotton told the New York Post. Lisa's daughter then apparently went looking for her mother only to find four-year-old Promise 'feeding herself with chocolate' on her mother's bed.
"She picked her up and ran out and called the police," Cotton added.
According to a transcript of the 911 call seen by the New York Post, Lisa's daughter described 'bugs crawling on' Nazir's body.
After being brought to a local hospital in a stable condition, Promise has since been discharged and now lives with her grandfather.
Understandably, the young girl has been left traumatised by recent events.
Speaking of his granddaughter, Cotton said: "She hasn’t said anything. She’s a baby. She looks at me sometimes, you know? Like she knows something.
"We don’t know anything, we’re trying to find out."
Neighbors have told officials how they hadn't seen Lisa for over two weeks, though a police source told the New York Post how there was no cause for concern considering they were apparently no smells, nor had a break in taken place.
"[The police] said they’d be back in a few days. One of the social workers said she was trying to get a court order to have the door broken in," a neighbor said.
Eric Perez, who lives upstairs, added: "The landlord hadn’t done wellness checks, people had called, neighbors called. It just smells like rat infested... the exterminator said the same thing — the smell is similar to rats and even death."
Hubert, meanwhile, has to deal with the grief of losing both his daughter and grandson, as well as arranging the funerals.
He added: "I’m sorry. Two of them. How am I going to get the money? To bury both of them?"
It remains unknown how Lisa, who was asthmatic, and her son died. Police are continuing their investigation.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].
Callum Jones