The family of a Pontiac, Michigan, woman who was found dead alongside two of her children in a field from hypothermia is suing Oakland County and three deputies, claiming that they failed to help the woman as she suffered a mental health crisis.

The bodies of Monica Cannady, 35, Kyle Milton, 9, and Malik Milton, 3, were found on Jan. 15, 2023. Cannady's 10-year-old, who survived, walked to a neighbor's home for help.

At the time, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said Cannady believed someone was trying to kill her, and the family noticed her behavior changed three weeks before their deaths. Bouchard said the family tried to get her help, but Cannady refused and took off with the kids.

However, a new federal lawsuit filed on Friday by Cannady's great aunt, Cherry Cannady, alleges that deputies were called on at least two occasions related to Cannady's mental health but refused to take action. 

"Instead of offering any sort of compassion or help, they were making ugly and racist assumption about who they were," said family advocate, Diamond Cannady. "They ultimately decided they did not matter."

"The conduct of Defendants was objectively unreasonable and performed knowingly, deliberately and with deliberate indifference to the safety of the family and causing the family to be less safe than they were before Defendants' affirmative actions," read the lawsuit.

CBS News Detroit reached out to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, to which spokesperson Stephen Huber said the sheriff's office "vehemently denies that any actions of OCSO personnel caused the tragic deaths of Ms. Cannady and her two young sons."

"Numerous efforts were made by OCSO personnel to help Ms. Cannady and her children. However, she refused all such efforts made by OCSO deputies to help. Importantly, at no time did any OCSO deputy have a legal basis to detain the family," Huber added.

The lawsuit alleges that on Jan. 13, 2023, a deputy went to a local hospital for a wellness check but refused to alert Child Protective Services, the sheriff's office crisis team or a social worker after Cannady "exhibited objective signs of mental distress and impairment as communicated by hospital personnel."

The lawsuit alleges that the deputy spotted Cannady and the children leaving the hospital and followed her in his patrol car. The deputy allegedly confronted her, telling her that she was "dancing on the line of child neglect." After Cannady said she was going to a relative's, the deputy allegedly left the area and failed to ensure the family's safety, the lawsuit claims.

According to the sheriff's office, the deputy tried to convince Cannady to come with him to the substation to get coats for the children, but she refused.

The lawsuit alleges that later that day, another deputy responded to a 911 call by a man who reported seeing Cannady at an intersection with her children and appearing mentally impaired. The deputy refused to search for the mother and allegedly told the caller it was "not a police matter," according to the lawsuit.

The deputy had a phone conversation with a colleague that was recorded on his body camera, where he said "he wanted to do 'real police work' instead of following up on the call to look for them," according to the lawsuit. The deputy allegedly said that the Cannady family was just "homeless being homeless" and that there was no point in searching for the family to put the children "in bulls*** foster care and get raped."

"This case has been brought to shine a light on the pure and unadulterated deliberate indifference and bias of the Defendant OCSO Deputies, whose actions exacerbated Monica Cannady's mental health crisis, and whose decision not to search for the family directly resulted in their deaths," according to the lawsuit.

Huber said the sheriff's office reviewed the body cam footage and concluded that the deputy's statements did not meet the standards of conduct. An internal affairs investigation was underway when the deputy resigned.

According to the lawsuit, the resident made additional 911 calls after the first deputy left. Deputies eventually responded but allegedly refused to search the area. The lawsuit claims one of the deputies allegedly mocked the caller and told his colleagues "that he made sure to flash his flashlight around to make it seem as if he was searching for the family," according to the lawsuit.

The sheriff's office said three deputies responded and searched the area but could not locate the family.

The lawsuit claims that on Jan. 14, Cannady led her children through the streets and knocked on doors for help before she told her children to sleep outside in the field.

According to the sheriff's office, deputies were called for a death investigation at about 3:10 p.m. on Jan. 15 after Cannady's daughter went to the resident's home. The resident told investigators that the family knocked on their door the day before. The resident said when they opened the door, Cannady was already at a neighbor's house and told the resident that she knocked on the wrong door, the sheriff's office said. The resident told deputies that Cannady did not ask for help.

Deputies spoke with the neighbor, who said they were not home at the time Cannady knocked on their door.

"Instead of seeing a mother in crisis, the police officers on duty saw a black woman that they assumed had a record or was homeless," Diamond Cannady said. "They treated her like a problem that needed to be dismissed instead of a person in need of help."