The grandfather of the 4-year-old girl who was trapped in her Bronx home with the bodies of her deceased mother and brother said he had been trying to convince his daughter to let the tot live with him.
Lisa Cotton, 38, and her 8-year-old autistic son died mysteriously in their Wakefield home, leaving Cotton’s traumatized daughter alone in the apartment with the two corpses for days, police said Saturday.
Cotton’s oldest child, a teenage girl, was already living with Cotton’s father, Hubert Cotton. The grandfather thought the reason he hadn’t been able to reach his daughter on the phone in recent days was because she disagreed with his plans to take care of the little girl.
“I thought that she was blocking me because I was trying to get the [4-year-old]. The small one. But she didn’t want me to because she wanted me to bring [the 8-year-old and 4-year-old] together. I told her, I don’t know how to deal with the boy,” said Hubert Cotton in his Kingsbridge home.
Lisa Cotton suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as well as asthma, and young Nazir Millien was severely autistic and disabled, said police sources. Hubert Cotton said he needed a feeding tube to eat.
Hubert Cotton held back tears as he told the Daily News about his young granddaughter being rescued from the terrifying ordeal by her older sister.
“My granddaughter, I told her that I can’t find her mother. I’ve been calling her and I told her to get the key and go there. So she went there,” said Hubert Cotton.
The little girl’s sister discovered the horrifying scene in the home on E. 231st St. near White Plains Road at around 8:30 p.m. Friday, a police source with knowledge of the case said.
“[The older girl] brought [the 4-year-old] downstairs and the ambulance took her to the hospital,” said the grandfather.
The tot survived by eating candy she had found in the Wakefield home.
“I had to wipe chocolate off of her,” said Hubert Cotton.
It is believed the little girl was stuck in the home for up to several days with the bodies, a police source said.
Lisa Cotton is believed to have died first, leaving young Nasir unable to care for himself, according to a police source. Hubert Cotton said detectives believe his daughter died from a heart attack.
Shocked neighbors said Lisa Cotton was a friendly woman but they saw signs of trouble.
“She’s had episodes. One time she had thrown paint out the window and she was talking about the devil. The next day she was having a mental break or something was going on,” said one woman in the building who did not give her name. “When we first moved in she was very nice and then as time went on, you could just see something was going on.”
Police sources said cops were first called to the apartment on April 15 after they received an anonymous 911 call asking someone to check on the family.
Cops knocked on the apartment door, but no one answered. At the time, no one detected a foul odor or heard screams, the police source said.
In the days that followed, neighbors began to notice a powerful smell, and they heard the little girl crying out, cops were told.
Downstairs neighbor Sabrina Sterling used to cook for the mom and her children, but hadn’t seen them for more than a week.
“She was a great girl. Great mom. Great neighbor. Always polite, sweet,” Sterling, 50, said, remembering the deceased woman. “But you never know from the outside looking in.”
