A Madison Heights mother is awaiting trial after a 5-year-old died in their home

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) – A mother is in police custody after her five-year-old daughter died at home. There is no official word from investigators yet on what exactly happened, but the girl’s father spoke to FOX 2 about what happened.

It’s a hard story to tell the week of Thanksgiving, when a father discovers his daughter’s dead body. Now the mother of this child has been arrested.

“My heart is devastated and I just don’t know what to do right now, but we’re dealing with it,” her father said.

Her name was Aiyana. Her dad described her as a star. Unfortunately, the bright five-year-old’s light dimmed over the weekend. Aiyana’s father spoke to FOX 2 24 hours after his daughter’s death on Sunday.

“Her mother had some drinks and apparently crawled onto the couch to hug her and ended up on top of her and choked her. “I found her at 7:30 in the morning and I saw her underneath and I threw her mother out and grabbed my baby and her body was dead,” he said. “It wasn’t intentional. Her mother would never hurt her. She would never do anything to hurt her.”

Madison Heights police took the girl’s mother into custody, where she remains.

“She was the most wonderful, beautiful little girl. She was so happy and smart,” her father said.

FOX 2 met with Aiyana’s father at the family home on Hecht Drive. A quiet, cloudy and gloomy day was a fitting backdrop for such an unimaginable tragedy. A family member created a GoFundMe for Aiyana.

But her father says what she needs most is prayers.

“She was special,” he said. “Everyone loved her. She loved everyone. She was so wonderful. She loved to dance and sing.”

The father plans to cremate his daughter’s remains. On Tuesday morning, the mother will appear in court for the first time.