5-year-old daughter of Detroit first responders becomes the youngest person in Michigan to die from Coronavirus complications

A 5-year-old girl who is the daughter of two Detroit first responders has become the youngest person in Michigan to die from Coronavirus. 

LaVondria Herbert, the mother of Skylar Herbert, confirmed her daughter’s death to The Detroit News.

Skylar tested positive for COVID-19 in March and later developed a rare form of meningitis and brain swelling, the newspaper reported. 

Skylar received care at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Michigan and was at first showing signs of improvement, but her condition later got serious. 

“We decided to take her off the ventilator … because her improvement had stopped, the doctors told us that it was possible she was brain dead, and we basically just knew she wasn’t coming back to us,” Herbert told The Detroit News.

“The loss of a child, at any time, under any circumstances, is a tragedy. We are heartbroken that COVID-19 has taken the life of a child. We extend our deepest sympathy to Skylar’s family and all others who have lost a loved one to this virus,” Beaumont Health said in a statement emailed to CBS News.

Metropolitan Church of God in Detroit posted about Skylar’s death. “There are no words to express how deeply saddened we are by the passing our beloved member Skylar Herbert,” the church wrote on Facebook. “Skylar touched our hearts with her cheerful spirit and brightened our Sunday’s with her smile. We thank God for gracing our congregation with her life and find solace in knowing that she now rests in the Lord’s presence. Please keep Sis. Faustina Green (grandmother) and Skylar’s parents lifted in prayer.”

Before Skylar’s death on Sunday, the youngest person to die from COVID-19 in Michigan was 20 years old, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.