A father and his seven children found dead inside a Maryland home were poisoned by carbon monoxide from a generator they were using because they could not keep up with their electricity bills, relatives and a friend said.
Rodney Todd Sr., 36, and his seven kids, aged 6 to 16, were found by officers in the southern Maryland peninsula town of Princess Anne on Monday, police said.
Todd’s mother and stepfather, Bonnie and Lloyd Edwards, told The Associated Press that a utility firm had cut off his electricity because of an outstanding bill.
“To keep his seven children warm, [Todd] bought a generator,” Lloyd Edwards told the AP. “It went out and the carbon monoxide consumed them.”
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