Children, 5 and 1, 'watched as their mothers and another victim were shot dead' at an abandoned Detroit home before being left alone with their bodies for HOURS until help came



Neighbours called police on Wednesday after hearing gunshots but gave the wrong block, so authorities did not find the bodies



A neighbour discovered the grisly scene when dropping by on Thursday

The girl, 5, said she and another child, aged 1, had seen the shootings

Relatives said the gunman was an ex-boyfriend of her mother



Police confirm a man has been arrested in connection with the killings



Two children, aged one and five, have witnessed their mothers being shot dead at an abandoned house before being left with the bodies - and that of another victim - for hours until they were found.



Lauren Trotty, 25, and India Coleman, 20, were shot dead alongside Curtis Clements, 24, at the house in the west side of Detroit, Michigan and found on Thursday when a neighbour stopped by.



Trotty's five-year-old daughter told the neighbour she had seen a man come to the home and shoot her mother. Coleman's one-year-old daughter also saw the shooting, but neither child was harmed.

Kenyetta Hunt, a relative of Clements, told CBS they were killed by Trotty's ex-boyfriend following an argument at the home earlier that day. He reportedly threatened to return to the home to kill them.

Killed: Lauren Trotty, 25, (left) and India Coleman, 20, (right) were shot dead in an abandoned home as their children, aged 5 and 1, watched. Relatives said the gunman was Trotty's ex-boyfriend



Distress: A body is carried out of a house in Detroit, Michigan on March 7 where two women and a man were found with apparent gunshot wounds inside

On Friday morning, police confirmed they had a man in custody in connection with the shootings - but it comes as little comfort to the young children who have lost their mothers.



'I think she’s going to be traumatised for the rest of her life after seeing her mom get killed,' Hunt told The Detroit News of the five-year-old girl. 'She is going to need a lot of family around her.'

The three victims, who nearby residents said were squatting at the abandoned home, are believed to have been killed with a shotgun. The two women died of multiple gunshot wounds, while Clements suffered a single shot to the head.



Police received a call at 10.30 p.m. on Wednesday saying shots had been fired on the 11900 block of the street, but an investigation turned up nothing - because the shooting was on the 11300 block.

Victim: The five-year-old girl told the neighbour who found them on Thursday morning that the one-year-old girl also saw her mother, India Coleman, pictured, get shot by the man

Murdered: The bodies of Coleman and Trotty (left) were found with another victim, Curtis Clements, 24 (right)



'The wrong address was provided to the 911 operator' on Wednesday, Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens told the Detroit Free Press .

They eventually responded to the scene after receiving a call at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday - meaning the children could have been left with the bodies for 11 hours.



Police said the investigation is ongoing. They said the home was abandoned.

When the Free Press contacted the owner, she said she thought it had gone into foreclosure and did not know anyone was living at the house.

Anguish: A young woman holds her face as she leaves the scene of where three bodies were found

Comfort: Neighbors support each other as news of the deaths on the quiet street spread among the community

Limuel Hubbard, 69, who has lived in the area since the Seventies, said: 'You see people come and go all the time. The guy who rents the house, he doesn’t take care of it too well and people move in and out.'

Carolyn Hubbard, 47, told the Free Press that she would care for the five-year-old girl while Trotty took classes at a local college.



'She was a good person,' Hubbard said. 'She was trying to get her life together.'

Neighbors in the area said that the bustling streets are now mostly filled with empty, boarded-up homes with transient renters.



Tragedy: A gurney is wheeled into the dilapidated home where a five-year-old girl witnessed her mother being shot dead, neighbors claimed

Concern: Those who live nearby consult police following the multiple shooting of two women and a man on Wednesday night

In 2012, Detroit had its highest homicide rate since 1993 with 386 murders.

The high homicide rate is just one of a plethora of problems that have blighted the once prosperous industrial city in Michigan.

The state's governor said earlier this week that unless Detroit's fortunes suddenly improve, he will appoint an emergency manager to take control of the troubled city.



In 1950 Detroit had 1.8 million people, a number which was down to 713,000 people by 2010. Parts of the city now lie abandoned and desolate, a target for vandals and asset-strippers who remove copper roofs and valuable materials from buildings that once employed thousands.