Durham, NC – DURHAM Two people were found dead inside a home on the east side of Durham on Wednesday morning, and authorities suspect carbon monoxide poisoning.
Cedric Melvin said that his cousin, Walter Melvin III, and a woman whose full name he did not know were found dead about 9:30 a.m. in a house on Spruce Street. Cedric Melvin said he also lived in the house, but did not spend the night there Tuesday.
Cedric Melvin said the woman was in her late 20s and pregnant and was staying at the house for the first time Tuesday. Melvin said he learned about the poisoning when the woman’s boyfriend called him to say he had gone to the house and found Walter Melvin, 50, unresponsive and his girlfriend throwing up repeatedly.
Cedric Melvin, 39, said when he got to the house, there was a strong smell of kerosene and that a generator they had been using for electricity had been moved from the backyard into the kitchen.
It was kind of weird for me to see the generator in my house, Cedric Melvin said. Walter knew not to bring it in.
The power to the house had been cut off, and Melvin said he and his cousin had been toughing it out for the last two weeks.