Homeless Black Grandmother Found Dead Under A Washington, DC Bridge In Freezing Temperatures

For the past decade, Angela Hill had been a fixture under the overpass that carries 295 over Pennsylvania Avenue. There is no exact address under that overpass, but Hill was an active member of the surrounding community. 

Those who came to know Hill, and met her on that bridge, are now mourning her death.

A Washington D.C., grandmother died Wednesday morning in freezing temperatures under a bridge.

Angela Hill, 58, lived under the highway overpass in southeast D.C. for at least 10 years, her family told local CBS affiliate WUSA. Temperatures in the nation’s capital dropped below 30 degrees overnight Tuesday.

“We tried to get her inside but she refused, so family would actually go by all the time and visit with her and make sure she was OK,” Hill’s cousin LaShaunda Hicks told WUSA. “We tried to get her help but weren’t trained in how to help her.”

Hill battled schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, her daughter Ashley Brown told the Washington Post. Brown said her mother refused to leave her makeshift home under the Anacostia Freeway on Pennsylvania Avenue SE.

“It’s just been a really tough, tough struggle trying to keep her alive out there,” Brown told the Post. “At times, we tried to take her physically somewhere, and she would fight. My mom was most comfortable where she was.”

Hill’s longstanding status under the John Philip Sousa Bridge made her a beloved community member, WUSA reported. City workers and neighbors also attempted to help her get off the street.

Hill’s official cause of death has not been determined, the Post reported. Brown set up a GoFundMe to help the family following Hill’s death.

“She wasn’t just the lady under the bridge,” Hicks told WUSA. “She had a family that loved her and we still do.”