Desperate Detroit mother fights for contact with arrested gender-nonconforming child

Nicole Walker says she hasn’t slept or eaten since Detroit police swooped in and arrested her 16-year-old child outside her home on Friday afternoon.

Since then, Walker hasn’t been able to talk to her child, who is lodged in a juvenile center.

Walker is also worried because she says her child is gender nonconforming.

Her child, whom Metro Times isn’t identifying because she’s a minor, has been charged with felonious assault on allegations she pointed a gun at someone at a gas station near Walker’s home on the city’s east side.

Walker, who is on oxygen 24 hours a day, says authorities are preventing her and her child from speaking over the phone.

“I’m going crazy,” Walker, 55, tells Metro Times . “I can’t get information anywhere. They told me they don’t have to tell me anything about my daughter. I haven’t eaten since Friday. I can’t sleep.”

In general, police in Michigan are barred from interrogating a child without a parent or guardian present. Walker is worried her child will falsely confess out of fear.

“I’m so afraid they’re trying to get my daughter to say something she didn’t do,” Walker says. “She’s naive.”

Last week, Metro Times launched “The Closer,” an investigative series about a former Detroit detective who elicited false confessions and witness statements while interviewing teenagers.

A Detroit police spokesman defended the department’s handling of the situation, saying Walker’s child wasn’t interrogated, and they “have no authority” over who juveniles are allowed to communicate with while in jail. Metro Times also reached out to Wayne County for comment and will update this article with their response.

“The family member did come to the station, and we advised her of her daughter being in custody,” the spokesman tells Metro Times . “No interrogation was done that night. … If there were any discussions to be made, they would have contacted a family member or lawyer.”

Walker says her child was walking home from a convenience store when police arrested her. Walker yanked the oxygen tube out of her nose and demanded to know what was going on.

“They told me to ‘shut the hell up, this has nothing to do with you,’” Walker claims. “They didn’t Mirandize her. They just took her. She even asked, ‘Why am I being handcuffed?’ They wouldn’t say a word.”

At about 10 p.m., Walker says, she finally got a call from a court-appointed attorney who explained some vague details about the allegations.

At a juvenile court hearing via Zoom on Saturday, Walker pleaded to speak with her child, but the referee wouldn’t let her. The referee set a $500 bond but indicated that only Walker could post the bond, she says.

Since she’s unable to leave her house because she’s on oxygen, Walker has been unable to post bond. She sent family members to try to post bond, but they were denied.

“They flat out told me I personally have to do it, even though I have my husband, who is her father on her birth certificate,” Walker says.

But she’s not giving up.

“I have made up my mind that I will die if I have to pick up my daughter,” Walker says. “I will take a chance and die to find my daughter.”

A hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in juvenile court.

Walker desperately wants to talk to her child before the hearing to ensure she doesn’t incriminate herself.

“I’m so afraid,” Walker says. “I’m scared to death. She’s never been in trouble in a day in her life. She’s never even been in a police department.”