Dallas

2 Dead in Dallas After Spending Night in the Cold

Two people are dead after spending the night out in the cold in South Dallas.

A woman's body was discovered on the ground near her wheelchair just before 8:00 Wednesday morning at a DART bus shelter at the intersection of S. Malcolm X Blvd. and Peabody Ave. (near Pennsylvania Ave.).

"She was laying there," said Broderick Auzenne, who called 911. "I didn’t know her name, I just shook her. She was real hard and she didn’t wake up."

Several people, including Auzenne, had seen the woman at the bus shelter since Monday, and tried to get her to go inside.

"She wouldn’t go, she wouldn’t go. We tried everything we could to try to help her," Auzenne said.

A few hours later, Dallas police officers found the body of a 69-year-old man under the Interstate 45 overpass at Martin Luther King Blvd., near the former site of "Tent City," a homeless encampment that was shut down last summer.

Wednesday night, Our Calling, a homeless outreach center by day, was acting as an emergency shelter for another night. 

"I heard about a couple of people that died out there in the cold last night," said Charles Watkins. Watkins said he sleeps on the streets, but came to Our Calling because it was too cold. "That's frightening feeling, you know?"

"Because of the cold weather, we're staying open all night," said Operations Director Pastor Jeremy Goerning. "It's a little bit overwhelming because the need is far greater than the resources currently available to help."

“The city is doing all they can," said Reverand Reginald Meriwether, a street minister who works with the homeless. "They are coming out asking people do they want to come in, and some of them say 'no', you what I’m saying? Their pride is in them, know what I’m saying," said Meriwether.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the cause of the deaths. Foul play is not suspected.

On Wednesday night, Dallas sidewalks and underpasses were dotted with sleeping bags.

"Right here on top of this vent is where we're gonna put down a bed," explained Ryan Rule, who felt lucky to sleep on top of a sidewalk grate that blew hot air. "It's a luxury, it really is."

The temperature was 13 degrees overnight in North Texas. NBC 5 Meteorologist Rick Mitchell said it was the coldest night in the area in seven years. 

The metroplex was under a hard freeze warning Tuesday night until noon Wednesday.

NBC 5's Kevin Cokely contributed to this report.

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