A mother with a history of mental health struggles died alongside her son inside her New York City apartment. Her 4-year-old daughter survived, but it appears no one noticed for weeks. Hubert Cotton, 71, reportedly became concerned about his daughter, 38-year-old Lisa Cotton, after he hadn’t heard from her for quite some time. A family member went to the mother’s apartment, and what they found horrified them.
Cotton and her son, 8-year-old Nazir Millien, had died in the home, and Cotton’s 4-year-old daughter, Promise Cotton, sat in her mother’s bed eating chocolate. Sadly, neighbors and loved ones claimed they tried to get help, but authorities allegedly didn’t respond appropriately to their pleas.
According to the New York Post, neighbors claimed they reported a horrific smell coming from the family’s apartment. Someone made an anonymous call to the police, who showed up and knocked on the door. But when no one answered, responding officers reportedly claimed they didn’t hear anything suspicious or smell anything, so they left.
“They said they’d be back in a few days,” a neighbor told the Post. “One of the social workers said she was trying to get a court order to have the door broken in.”
Hubert Cotton told the Post he assumed his daughter hadn’t returned his calls because she didn’t want to talk to him. He never anticipated the horror his family would soon face. When his daughter’s landlord called to ask if she’d moved out, Hubert Cotton knew something had happened to her. The concerned father sent his daughter’s oldest daughter to the apartment, and she found her family in a devastating scene.
Nazir, who was reportedly born premature and required a feeding tube, lay slumped in his chair. As bugs crawled on the deceased mother and son, the eldest child grabbed Promise and called 911 for help.
“She hasn’t said anything. She’s a baby. She looks at me sometimes, you know? Like she knows something,” Hubert Cotton told the Post. “We don’t know anything, we’re trying to find out.”
Neighbor Eric Perez told the Post those who lived near Cotton knew something was wrong.
“The landlord hadn’t done wellness checks, people had called, neighbors called,” he told the news outlet. “It just smells like rat infested, the exterminator said the same thing, the smell is similar to rats and even death.”
Neighbor Sabrina Coleson told the Post the Administration for Children’s Services didn’t help Promise.
“They didn’t do s—,” Coleson said. “They were here ringing people’s bells the day before the wellness check. They were here, but they didn’t do s—.”
She added, “One rang my bell and asked if I had any concerns for upstairs. And then a man opened his door and started yelling,” Coleson said. “Lisa was a very cool girl. I never saw her son with her, only the girl. It’s terrible.”
Authorities claimed Cotton had mental health issues and had a pending ACS case for alleged neglect before she and her son died, according to the Post.
In 2021, police arrested Cotton for reportedly swinging her baby in a stroller and setting a wig on fire before leaving the scene on White Plains Road.
A source told the Post that police believe Cotton may have died from cardiac arrest and her son, who used a feeding tube, likely starved to death.
A neighbor named Sharlene told the Post that Cotton appeared suicidal and had allegedly acted erratically on more than one occasion.
“She wanted to commit suicide with the boy,” Sharlene said.
Sharlene, who works as a home health aid, said the story bothered her. “It hurts because it’s somebody who you know, somebody who you see, somebody who you were close to, and now it’s gonna be when you come outside, you see no one there and that’s gonna hurt,” she said, according to the newspaper. “I hope the little girl is going to be okay.”
A neighbor named Mark, told the Post that ACS is at fault.
“In a sense I blame ACS. They should have done more from the first.”
He added, “When they came to check on her, they shouldn’t have left. They should have been forceful.”
The deaths remain under investigation. Emergency responders brought Promise to an area hospital for treatment. She is expected to survive.
