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Carbon monoxide killed Maryland family of eight, relatives say Maryland family of eight killed by carbon monoxide after electricity cut off
(about 5 hours later)
A single dad and his seven children were found dead in their one-story home in Maryland, and though officials gave no identities or details on the cause of the deaths, the man’s stepfather said he had been trying to keep the family warm with a generator after the power was cut because of an outstanding bill. A divorced kitchen worker and his seven children were accidentally poisoned by carbon monoxide from the gas-powered generator they were using to keep warm after their electricity was cut off, Princess Anne police chief Scott Keller said on Tuesday.
Lloyd Edwards told the Associated Press that his stepson, 36-year-old Rodney Todd, had bought the generator after the power was shut off to the home in Princess Anne, about 60 miles southeast of Annapolis on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He said those who died were Todd and Todd’s two sons and five daughters. He said Delmarva Power has been subpoenaed to document exactly what it did and when before police found the bodies of Rodney Todd, 36, and his children.
“It was just disbelief. It’s so hard. How can you understand something like this?” Edwards said. “He was an outstanding dad … to keep his seven children warm, he bought a generator, and the carbon monoxide consumed them.” “I’m just numb. I’m just numb. Like it’s a nightmare but it’s not,” the children’s mother, Tyisha Luneice Chambers, told the Associated Press on Tuesday. “If I had known he was without electricity, I would have helped.”
Authorities would not confirm any information about possible carbon monoxide poisoning, but Princess Anne police chief Scott Keller told the AP there was no foul play and that a generator with no gasoline was found in the kitchen. He confirmed that the electricity to home was turned off and said officers were looking into when that began. Police responding to a missing persons report found their bodies on Monday at the one-story wood-frame home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore after school workers, friends and Todd’s supervisor at work had knocked on the door with no answer.
Matt Likovich, a spokesman for Delmarva Power, would not say whether the power to the home had been cut off. He said the matter is being investigated. “The children were all in beds and it appears as though they were sleeping,” Keller said. “Probably it was bedtime and they decided they needed some light and probably some heat, because toward the end of March even though it was spring we were having some pretty chilly nights.”
Lloyd and Bonnie Edwards spoke with an AP reporter outside the one-story wood frame home, identifying themselves as the mother and stepfather of Todd. Bonnie Edwards said her son set an example for his children, teaching them how to talk to elders and the value of education. For each child’s birthday, he bought a cake and a gift even though money was tight, with only his income supporting the family, she said. Why Todd ran the gas-powered generator inside his kitchen wasn’t clear. The chief speculated that the noise would have bothered neighbors, had it been outside.
“There was nothing he wouldn’t do for them,” she said. “If he couldn’t do it, he’d sit them down and tell them, ‘Dad has to pay for this – I might not be able to get it this time, but I will get it to you when I can.’ And they understood. All he was trying to do was to keep his kids warm. I speak to him every day, four or five times. He calls and tells me what’s going on. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me this time because he knew I would have helped him.” Todd got some welfare money, but it wasn’t enough, said Sarah Hardy, his close friend.
A police statement said only that the cause of the deaths remains under investigation, and it identified the victims as an adult and seven children from 6 years old to the teens. “How can a man survive off of basically minimum wage with seven kids, and you can’t help him with a utility bill?” Hardy asked. “This man was working. And Delmarva Power cuts the lights off?”
Bonnie Edwards identified the man’s children as boys Cameron, 13, and Zycheim, 7; and girls Tynijuiza, 15; Tykira, 12; Tybree, 10; Tyania, 9; and Tybria, 6. But as it turns out, the rental home never had legal power to begin with while the Todd family was there, the utility said. Electric service had been disconnected in October, and there was no request to reconnect it after the family moved there in November.
“I feel empty,” she said. “I’m used to coming up here and seeing my grandkids running up and down the steps.” “Through the use of smart meter technology, Delmarva Power discovered a stolen electric meter was being used at the home on March 25, 2015. Delmarva Power disconnected the illegally connected meter for safety reasons and to comply with standard protocol. Delmarva Power did not disconnect electric service at this address for nonpayment,” the statement said.
People hugged each other and looked on somberly outside the home Monday as officers stood by and investigators went through the house. The home was encircled with yellow police tape, wrapped around some trees in the yard. It wasn’t immediately clear on Tuesday whether Todd made any arrangements with the utility or any other authorities to restore power after the illegal meter was removed. What is known is that Todd bought a generator to keep the lights on.
Todd was a utility worker at the nearby University of Maryland Eastern Shore, said his supervisor Stephanie Wells. “It’s so hard. How can you understand something like this?” Lloyd Edwards said. “He was an outstanding dad. ... To keep his seven children warm, he bought a generator, and the carbon monoxide consumed them.”
Wells, who hadn’t seen Todd since March 28, said she went to the house Monday morning and knocked on the door, but no one answered. She filed a missing-person report with police. Todd had received assistance paying his utility bills in the past, but did not apply for help this year, said Tom VanLandingham, who directs the office of home energy programs in Somerset County. Families can apply once a year, and assistance is based on household income and energy use, among other factors.
“He was a good person; he always did what he was told,” Wells said. “He took care of seven kids. I last saw him on March 28, and I’d asked co-workers to look for him because it didn’t seem right. “ “We’re all kind of baffled as to why he did not apply this year ... that’s the million-dollar question,” VanLandingham said before the utility’s announcement.
Keller, the police chief, said: “You don’t want attention drawn to your town for something tragic like this. Maybe people can learn and be safe, I hope.” Todd retained full custody of the his children when his divorce from Tyisha Luniece Chambers was finalized last September. Court records identified the boys as Cameron and ZhiHeem, and the girls as Tyjuziana, Tykeria, Tynijuzia, TyNiah and Tybreyia. Bonnie Edwards said her grandsons were 13 and 7, and granddaughters were 15, 12, 10, 9 and 6, respectively.
“The mother left, not only the seven kids by Rodney, but she left her oldest son with him as well,” Hardy said. “She abandoned him and the kids.”
Todd served 16 months behind bars for assaulting his wife in a domestic dispute, Hardy said. Upon his release, “he came home, caught her in bed with another man, and the man was abusing the kids. He took his seven kids and her son and raised them on his own.”
Chambers denied that she abandoned them, and said she had been paying child support.
“He wasn’t a single parent. I was in their lives. I don’t have drug problems. I love my kids and I’m sorry their father passed as well,” she said, adding that she planned to meet Todd’s relatives at a funeral home on Wednesday.
Bonnie Edwards said her son taught his children how to talk with elders and the value of education. He bought each a cake and a gift on their birthday, even though money was tight.
“There was nothing he wouldn’t do for them,” she said. “All he was trying to do was to keep his kids warm.”
A co-worker at the nearby University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Brittney Hudson, said Todd “was always smiling and laughing”.
“He’s the man you need to know and the man you want to be,” said Bilel Smith, who lives nearby. “They were their own football team, their own basketball team. This is breaking our hearts.”