Detroit Teen Shocked by Downed Power Line Dies

Nov. 25--The family of a 14-year-old Detroiter killed by a shock from a fallen power line says they wonder why DTE Energy didn't act faster to fix or mark downed wires -- and whether it would have saved him.

"They should have reacted to it right away," Malik Shelton's stepmother, Leonie Shanks, 44, said Monday at the home they shared a few blocks away from where the 14-year-old was shocked a week ago. "They just reacted too late. I know it was probably his time, but we might have maybe had a little bit more time with him if DTE (would) have just sent somebody out there to respond to those calls."

Malik died at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Kris Lamaire, administrative assistant at the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner's office, said Monday. Medical Examiner Jeff Jentzen ruled the cause as death by electrocution. An autopsy will not be conducted, Lamaire said.

On Monday, DTE Energy spokesman Scott Simons said: "I'm not going to get into assessing blame" for the death of Malik.

He added that DTE "received more than 2,400 reports of power lines coming down as a result of the storm" on Nov. 17-18. "We went to hundreds of locations."

According to Simons, a crew member at DTE came across the wire down that would shock Malik on the south side of Lyndon near the intersection of Marlow and Lauder, while she was on her way to another location. It was before 8 a.m.

Simons said the DTE crew member then "taped off the sidewalks on the southwest and southeast corner with caution tape."

The crew member told "several kids to walk around the block to avoid the wires and called in to report the situation."

Simons said the incident "occurred after the kids left the school" and after the crew member had left the location.

Malik's father, Angelo Shelton, 41, wanted to thank those who reached out to him, Malik's two sisters, ages 18 and 20, and the rest of his family. Services, which are pending, are being handled by O.H. Pye, III Funeral Home in Detroit. More information is expected about arrangements on Tuesday.

"I just want to say thank you for all the prayers that went up," Angelo Shelton said. "He touched a lot of hearts. He was a good kid."

Malik was shocked while walking home from Burns Elementary/Middle School in Detroit after classes were canceled because of a storm-related power outage. Police said a DTE Energy worker was nearby, directing people away from power lines down across Lyndon, behind the school.

But Malik was injured as he tried to pass under a downed line behind the school on Marlowe, one house away from Lyndon, according to investigators. Police said schoolmates who were with Malik took heroic measures, knocking his hand off the live wire with a piece of wood and calling for help. They were not injured.

Police said he did not have a pulse at the scene but had a faint pulse when he arrived at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital after his principal and EMS workers performed CPR.

Shanks said that Malik, who loved basketball, football and making people laugh, underwent surgery last week at Mott, where he was transferred.

"He pulled through all that," she said. "He just lost the battle. He got tired of fighting. He went on peacefully."

Malik's mother, Betty Arrington, 40, barely able to talk about the situation after spending nearly a week at her son's bedside, said she's grateful for support shown through the tragedy.

"I just want to thank everybody for their prayers, and thank them for their support, through Facebook, coming out to the hospital," she said. "I have a lot of ... emotions right now."

She said the family decided on organ donation, which is helping her through the tragedy of losing her son.

Burns Principal Dwayne Richardson, who performed CPR on Malik after he was shocked, was not available for comment, a secretary at the school said today.

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