PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – A divorced kitchen worker and his seven children were accidentally poisoned by carbon monoxide from the generator they were using to keep warm after their electricity was cut off, police said Tuesday.
Princess Anne Police Chief Scott Keller said the Delmarva Power company has been subpoenaed to document exactly when it cut off power to the home.
Maryland law bars utilities from terminating electric service for nonpayment of bills from Nov. 1 through March 31 without an affidavit filed to the Public Service Commission.
Rodney Todd, 36, and his two sons and five daughters were last seen alive on March 28.
Police responding to a missing persons report found their bodies Monday after friends, school workers and Todd’s supervisor at work had knocked on the door with no answer.
“The children were all in beds and it appears as though they were sleeping,” Keller said.
“They didn’t have electricity. 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.”
The dead children’s mother, Tyisha Luneice Chambers, told The Associated Press that she’s “just numb – like it’s a nightmare but it’s not.”
“If I had known he was without electricity, I would have helped,” she said.
WATCH: Chief Scott Keller from the Princess Anne Police Department says no foul play is suspected in what he calls a “tragic” incident.
Todd got some welfare money, but it wasn’t enough, said Sarah Hardy, his close friend.
“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?”
Matt Likovich, a spokesman for Delmarva Power, said the utility is investigating what happened.
Lloyd Edwards said his stepson had bought the generator after the power was shut off due to unpaid bills at their one-story wood frame home in the small town of Princess Anne on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“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.”
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.
“We’re all kind of baffled as to why he did not apply this year,” VanLandingham said. “That’s the million-dollar question.”
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. For each child’s birthday, he bought a cake and a gift, even though money was tight.
“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.”
Todd was a kitchen worker at the nearby University of Maryland Eastern Shore. His supervisor, Stephanie Wells, filed a missing persons report after going to the house Monday morning and knocking on the door with no answer.
“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. ”
Neighbours said they knocked on the doors as well. Two school staff members also checked on the children, but couldn’t tell if anyone was home, said Leo Lawson, a spokesman for Somerset County Schools.
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