DETROIT -- A 72-year-old woman, who put her house up for sale to raise $16,000 she owes for the funerals of seven victims of violent death, borrowed another $2,000 from her boyfriend to pay for a funeral for a girl who starved to death.
'What else is there to do in life?' asked Lois Frederick, of suburban Dearborn Heights. 'I haven't got that many years left and all you can leave in this world is what you do for others.'
She said she borrowed the money from the man she dates, a friend she calls Dr. York, to cover the funeral and burial costs of Rishonda Jones, 15, who was found dead Feb. 8 in the Detroit apartment she shared with her mother and 10-year-old sister.
'Any child that starves to death in America, we need to do something to call attention to it,' she said.
Frederick said she had purchased two dresses and some other garments for the surviving 10-year-old. She also offered to take care of her, including sending her to school, but was turned down by the Michigan Department of Social Services.
An autopsy showed that Rishonda, who was physically disabled, died from marasmus, a severe protein and calorie deficiency.Her death is being investigated by the Detroit police child abuse and homicide units as well as the protective services division of the Wayne County DSS.
The service for Rishonda was held at 1 p.m. at the James H. Cole Funeral Home in Detroit. The girl's body was then taken to the Westlawn Cemetery in Westland, where she was buried.
Following the funeral, Frederick brought some of the flowers to a Veterans Administration hospital.
'I take them a couple (car) loads of flowers every week,' Frederick said. 'I have a connection with a florist. They give me a very, very good price. In fact, she gives me a lot of things for nothing.'
Rishonda's aunt, Denise Sanders, who is caring for Rishonda's mother and sister, said Frederick contacted her through the funeral home, which handled Tuesday's services.
Frederick has now paid for the funerals of eight Detroiters, all strangers to her. She began paying for funerals in July after she read about the death of a 3-year-old girl who died after allegedly being immersed in a running washing machine.
Rishonda's mother, Michelle Jones, said in a telephone call to the Detroit News that she tried to feed her disabled daughter but the girl could not keep the food down.
Jones, 34, was being treated in the psychiatric ward of Southwest General Hospital in Detroit. Police have questioned her about the girl's death but have not charged her.
Last month, Frederick said she would have to sell her home, which she still owes $12,000 on, to pay the $16,000 credit union loan she owes for the previous seven funerals. She said Monday that she had received about $500 in donations and her house is still for sale.
