Cleveland, OH – A 3-year-old boy may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to police reports.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner has not officially ruled on the death of Lorne Johnson Jr. Cleveland police said the death is believed to be accidental.
Police reports say Johnson’s death is being investigated as a suspected poisoning after his 42-year-old father and his 17-year-old brother were also treated for carbon monoxide poisoning the same day.
The dad and his two sons ran errands around the neighborhood starting about 10:30 a.m., police reports say. The 2003 Chrysler Town and Country van did not have a catalytic converter attached to the exhaust system, according to police.
The group stopped at McDonald’s at one point and the 3-year-old told his father he was tired. The boy laid down in the backseat of the van, police reports say.
The group about 1 p.m. returned to their home in the 8300 block of Maryland Avenue. The father reported finding his 3-year-old son unconscious in the back seat with vomit coming from his mouth, according to police reports.
Johnson’s father called 911 and performed CPR on his son until an ambulance arrived and took both to University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, according to police reports.
The boy had elevated carbon monoxide levels in his system, police said. He died about 1:30 p.m.
The boy’s father was treated and released from the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. The 17-year-old boy also was found to have elevated carbon monoxide levels and was taken to the same hospital in stable condition, according to police.
Cleveland police homicide detectives are investigating the case, as they do with all child deaths.