The father of two Black boys who died after being missed by white firefighters in Flint, Michigan, this spring told The Daily Beast that he was held by police for several hours and had his blood drawn by cops while his sons fought for their lives.
“I was going crazy not knowing if my kids were dead or alive,” DeAndre Mitchell, 44, said in an interview alongside the children’s mother, Crystal Cooper.
The death of his two boys days later would spark national outrage—and allegations of a cover-up—after an internal investigation by Fire Chief Raymond Barton found that the white firefighters who initially searched for victims in the fire lied about having properly canvassed the second floor of the home. State police have since launched their own probe of the fire and its aftermath.
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In October, Barton implied to members of the Flint City Council that he was overruled in his decision to fire the men, Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek. That fueled allegations by the family and city council members that local politicians—including Democratic Mayor Sheldon Neeley—tried to sweep the whole mess under the rug.
Zlotek would go on to rejoin the department after two weeks paid suspension and training. Sniegocki resigned before he received any punishment. Neither man has been charged with a crime.
“We are not lying, because we did search the bedroom, but did not realize that there was a smaller room attached to it,” one of the firefighters, speaking anonymously, later told local TV outlet ABC12.
In his investigative report, Barton determined that statements the firefighters previously made about the events that day were false, as the first boy had been found “to the immediate left” of the main entrance to the room.
But for DeAndre Mitchell, the nightmare wasn’t just what happened to his sons—but how law enforcement kept him from reaching them as they battled for their lives in the hours after the blaze.
A city spokesperson sent a statement on behalf of both the Police Department and the City of Flint, declining to comment and directing questions to the Michigan State Police “so as not to interfere with that investigation in any way.”
Later: “The City of Flint denies all allegations that Mayor Neeley influenced the internal investigation of the Pulaski St. fire and resulting disciplinary decisions. There is no truth to these claims whatsoever.”
Neeley was re-elected on Tuesday.
“This incident is an open and ongoing investigation,” Lt. Kim Vetter, spokesperson for the Michigan State Police, said in a written statement. “As such, Michigan State Police (MSP) is unable to provide further information regarding the specific events that occurred following the fire.”
Once the investigation is finished, the results will be turned over to the Genesee County Prosecutor’s office, Vetter added.
Mitchell told The Daily Beast that on the morning of the fire, he had been running on the treadmill at the local YMCA. When he saw multiple missed calls from family members, he hastily called his uncle back.
“He was like, ‘Man, get home, your house on fire,’” Mitchell told The Daily Beast. “And I said, ‘Where my kids at?’”
The uncle explained that he had heard that one of his two boys had been taken out on a stretcher, Mitchell said.
In fact, not just one but both of his sons had been rushed to the hospital. And days later, 9-year-old LaMar and 12-year-old Zy’Aire would die—brain dead, of smoke inhalation, according to the family.
A probe by state investigators in Michigan later concluded the fire itself was caused by electrical wiring, according to a city press release in August.
On that day in late May, Mitchell said, he raced home from the gym, still unaware of the seriousness of his children’s injuries. Around 9:40 a.m., he parked and got out of his car, when he was immediately stopped by cops.
“As soon as they realized who I was, police surrounded me,” Mitchell told The Daily Beast. When he asked why he was being held, the officers were noncommittal, he claimed.
They were just like, ‘Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing.’ So I’m like, well—I found out my kids went to the hospital. So I’m like, ‘Can I go to the hospital?’ And they was like, ‘Nah, you got to stay here.’”
Mitchell said he was ultimately held for hours.
First he waited outside, surrounded by officers. Then, Mitchell said, he was handcuffed and put inside a cop car for roughly two hours before being taken in for questioning at the police station downtown.
“I’m asking the guy in the front [in the patrol car], like, ‘Am I under arrest or what?’ you know? He just kept saying, like, ‘The detective is on his way. You just got to talk to him and you can leave.’”
Once he made it to the police station, Mitchell said, two detectives interrogated him, and he gave a statement that he had been at the YMCA. According to Mitchell, cops said they could check the cameras to see if he was telling the truth—and would be in touch if they had more questions.
Then things got truly maddening, Mitchell said, when two detectives directed another cop to take Mitchell to Hurley Hospital and draw his blood. Mitchell claims one of the detectives explained it was to test paternity of the kids. A spokesperson for the hospital declined to comment for this story.
“I knew it was bull,” Mitchell said. But at the time, he said, he was still in handcuffs and felt that he didn’t have a choice.
“I knew better. But I was just trying to get to my kids, I knew I did nothing wrong.”
Neither Flint Police nor the Michigan State police addressed specific inquiries by The Daily Beast about why Flint PD might have needed a blood sample from Mitchell.
Once his blood was drawn, Mitchell said, he was released. No investigator ever called back. Mitchell said that for the several hours he was held, his mind was racing.
“I was asking to go straight to the hospital to see my kids and they didn’t let me, they surrounded me.” Mitchell told The Beast. “I mean, how about, ‘Go see, check on your kids and we’ll catch up with you later’? How about that? I mean, I ain’t going nowhere. I’m at the hospital. They know!”
Mitchell eventually reached his family and children around 2 or 3 p.m. Zy’Aire and LaMar would die on June 1 and 3, respectively.
Mitchell said that when he lost his sons, he lost his best friends. The three shared a love of sports, scary movies, and video games.
“People who know me know I love my kids. Always had them with me. Always.”
After receiving a call from a detective at the Flint Police Department on Oct. 11, Cooper said, she was told that Mitchell was a suspect in an investigation into the fire.
“I asked how was he a suspect, and I asked about the firefighters, he said, ‘Well, that’s all I can tell you,’” she said.
Lt. Vetter confirmed that the investigation into the events surrounding the fire was now fully in the hands of MSP, not the Flint Police Department, but could not confirm any potential suspects in the case. The Flint Firefighters Union did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation.
Meanwhile, both parents remained resolute in their desire for accountability—from the firefighters to the cops to local politicians.
“Every day I feel—” Mitchell paused, choking up. “Every day I feel cheated. I hope it does bring awareness to what really goes on.”
Last Friday, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton requested the new investigation by Michigan State Police into the fire and its fallout. Lt. Vetter confirmed that probe extended to “any criminal actions taken by any parties involved.”
“Your job, the job is to check every angle, corner, and it’s a car in the driveway,” Mitchell said, referring to the scene when emergency personnel arrived, as captured on public records. “And you just don’t do your job. Why? That’s the question I got. Why?”
